Hedge inspiration required

[Dr Murdoch]

Ive been procrastinating over what hedge I need at the edge of the driveway.

The driveway is about 20m long, and I can't decide whether I should:

1. Get a continuous hedge i.e all red robin or all laurel etc
2. Get a mix (will that look ok if I end up with a square continuous hedge)?

Preferably quick growing, height needs to be a min of 6ft.

[randlemarcus]

There's a really effective hedge in the village that looks great, and is alternating green and copper beech. Very handsome, though not as wildlife friendly as a mixed hedge. I have few stretches of laurel, and hate it, but thats a personal choice and realted to having to grub up some particularly egregious random blobs of it.

Stock image from the web

Edited by randlemarcus on Monday 19th May 12:49

[Steve Campbell]

Quick growing = pain to maintain in the future. Just saying ;-)

[Grande Pedro]

I think a hedge in photinia is pretty attractive and it's easy to keep in check once it's at the right height. The 'more is more' element of a longish single-species hedge can work really well.

[Evanivitch]

Holly (ilex) makes a great hedge, but slow to establish and expensive to buy at 6ft. Personally, I think they make incredible hedges but it's long time to result.

Beech is a good compromise but you still need to keep on top of maintenance otherwise it'll be 3m tall before you know it. There's no guarantee it'll hold leaves in winter.

Mixed hedges are great for wildlife, but really depends what you want the hedge for in terms of privacy and security.

Laurel and Photinia

[hidetheelephants]

Unless it's a formal garden I'd go for a mix, as said it's best for the wildlife.