Hedge plants for a long but narrow border

delmar39

Hi there we've recently bought a new house. The back fence has a length of around 11 meters and has a 1ft border running along it. My original plan was to train pyracanthas up against the fence, but due to having a young daughter I've changed my mind. Plan b is a Photinia Red Robin hedge 12 plants in total as this is about all I can afford and they should spread over time (I'm in no rush). My only concern is that the border is only a foot wide, but I'm happy to let them bush out a little, whilst keeping them clipped when they do start to grow. Any thoughts on this? My main aim is simply to cover the fence and I want to steer away from trellis and climbers.

Kay_Peel

I think that your idea of training an evergreen shrub like Photinia is a very good one.
It works in my garden, where I have a north facing fence that runs along the side of my house with only a foot or so of ground to play with.

I have different kinds of shrubs. The most spectacular are the Ceanothus (Californian lilac - glossy dark green leaves and blue, fragrant flowers), which I've grown into tall columns. I also love the tall Escallonias with their pretty pink flowers.

I've got ones that might not be suitable when there are little ones around - they have berries and some are prickly. There's:

Cotoneasters - tall ones and horizontal ones that I've tied in to make them flat against the fence.
Mahonia - looks like a holly but has the most wonderful fragrant yellow trusses of flowers.

Before the fence was put up there had been a Laurel hedge along the side of the house. Little shoots still keep appearing from nowhere. I've kept some shoots and let them grow and fill the gaps.

My wall of shrubs has been built up over 5 years. Except for the Ceanothuses, I've grown all the plants myself - from cuttings or by finding self-seeded plants around my garden or friends' gardens.

Go for the photinias - they are really good value and look lovely. As your family grow you can be more daring!

delmar39

Thanks for this Kay. I had considered Cotoneasters, indeed, I have put some of these in my front garden plus have three Cotoneaster Cornubia tress in my rear garden, but I wanted something different, but all the same to plant in a group. My only concern with the Red Robins is that the border I have is only a foot wide and there's a long gravel seating area running directly in front of the border. Perhaps they might bush out too much, but I can trim them I guess. Any further comments welcome...!