New hedge for privacy and noise reduction

Alfrescodave

I'm looking for ideas for a new hedge (approx 30ft long) to grow on edge of lawn that will provide me with some privacy and noise reduction form the adjoining road/pavement.

Preferably it will be quick growing, I don't mind pruning it regularly and will reach a height of at least 6 feet.

Ideas I'm currently considering are laurel, privet and leylandii (not high on the list) so any suggestions/ tips/ advice would be most welcome

Nan_Dingle

http://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/right-plant/vid.41/vid.177/sort.1/

fwor

Laurel seems to be very good at sound shielding - I took out a very large bush on my boundary with a busy road and the traffic noise was noticeably louder.

Just don't let it get away from you, as they quickly grow huge if not trimmed back regularly - though unlike Leylandii they will sprout new growth vigorously if you have to hack them back hard.

UnluckyT

how about pyracantha or something local like beech or hawthawn or burberis.good for wildlife too esp if you add something like a butterfly bush in their too.
burberis and pyracantha have spikes on so will be tricky to prune but will deter people from acessing your garden.

Leif

Laurel is not easy to prune as it has thick leaves and thick stems. I also think it looks rather messy when trimmed, as the large leaves end up shredded.

Doesn't leylandii share genes with Jack's bean stalk?

I went for privet as it is cheap to buy, grows fast, easy to trim, evergreen, provides a home for birds, and I like it. A 15m hedge cost £45, planted early this year, and the plants survived the appalling weather, so it must be pretty tough. In fact according to some posts here, the only way to kill it is with a thermonuclear weapon, or something like that.

Yew can look nice.

Camellia is lovely, but a bit slow growing, and it does not like direct sun in the morning, and prefers semi-shade.

Cotoneaster is nice, evergreen, can be fast growing, bird friendly. I have a couple of C. franchettii which will add privacy on one side. The leaves have gone a lovely shade of red.

Wiegela grows very fast, and is quite attractive.

You could do a mixed hedge. My neighbour's hedge contains laurel, Forsythia, hazel, hawthorn and a few other things.

shegar

Leif wrote: »

Laurel is not easy to prune as it has thick leaves and thick stems. I also think it looks rather messy when trimmed, as the large leaves end up shredded.

Doesn't leylandii share genes with Jack's bean stalk?

I went for privet as it is cheap to buy, grows fast, easy to trim, evergreen, provides a home for birds, and I like it. A 15m hedge cost £45, planted early this year, and the plants survived the appalling weather, so it must be pretty tough. In fact according to some posts here, the only way to kill it is with a thermonuclear weapon, or something like that.

Yew can look nice.

Camellia is lovely, but a bit slow growing, and it does not like direct sun in the morning, and prefers semi-shade.

Cotoneaster is nice, evergreen, can be fast growing, bird friendly. I have a couple of C. franchettii which will add privacy on one side. The leaves have gone a lovely shade of red.

Wiegela grows very fast, and is quite attractive.

You could do a mixed hedge. My neighbour's hedge contains laurel, Forsythia, hazel, hawthorn and a few other things.

Ive got a lovely laurel out front it trimmed to 6 foot.......You are not supposed to cut laurel with a hedge cutter, but cut with the shears , hedge cutters makes the leaves look serrated and you get brown where theyve been cut ,where shears give a clean cut................

Out back ive got a mixed native hedge, yellow privet,green privet, hawthorn, pyracantha........The birds love it this time of year , and its very easy to trim and keep tidy in the growing period too..........:D

botchjob

I planted a new privet hedge about 18 months ago and it’s coming along very nicely. I bought bare root plants (from hedgesdirect) which I think must have been around 24 inches tall when they arrived. It’s now beginning to look like a low hedge (rather than individual plants) but it’s likely to be another couple of years before I can actually call it a hedge. But far better to have patience than go for horrid leylandii, a decision you’ll only live to regret.

What I’ve also discovered is the privet is very easy to propagate from cuttings so if you have the time, patience, inclination, and can find a mature privet growing wild, take along your secateurs and you’ll save more than a few quid.

glasgowdan

shegar wrote: »

Ive got a lovely laurel out front it trimmed to 6 foot.......You are not supposed to cut laurel with a hedge cutter, but cut with the shears , hedge cutters makes the leaves look serrated and you get brown where theyve been cut ,where shears give a clean cut................

Out back ive got a mixed native hedge, yellow privet,green privet, hawthorn, pyracantha........The birds love it this time of year , and its very easy to trim and keep tidy in the growing period too..........:D

This is ok if you're retired or work part time and you have time to trim with secateurs. Trimming with hedge trimmers is fine and an autumn trim will look perfectly normal again come spring.

I, however, wouldn't choose laurel for this hedge. I would go for privet. This is because it's easier to keep a nice shape and maintain dense foliage after trimming. Laurel can be very gappy if you focus on straight lines when trimming. All the other hedge species mentioned above don't offer much in the way of noise reduction.

lostinrates

glasgowdan wrote: »

This is ok if you're retired or work part time and you have time to trim with secateurs. Trimming with hedge trimmers is fine and an autumn trim will look perfectly normal again come spring.

I, however, wouldn't choose laurel for this hedge. I would go for privet. This is because it's easier to keep a nice shape and maintain dense foliage after trimming. Laurel can be very gappy if you focus on straight lines when trimming. All the other hedge species mentioned above don't offer much in the way of noise reduction.

We inherited a privet hedge, ad while there is a lot about it to like, I have to admit outs was gappy, space stealing (it was well over eight feet wide at its widest) and gre like a weed. This year I did not cut it fence very early spring for various reasons and it grew a messy four feet to five feet upwards, and a fair bit out ward. (that's on top of the couple of feet I had chopped of in spring) it was mammoth and it had to go, though I will miss the flowers and the scent tremendously.

You are right it trims up beautifully.


Think very, very, very carefully about a fast growing hedge. If your area has busy bodies who care to see road side height restrictions enforcedyou could find you are cutting it every month thru the nice weather!

of the choices in op I would choice privet first, then laurel, but I would not consider leylandi for such a location personally.

Davesnave

glasgowdan wrote: »

All the other hedge species mentioned above don't offer much in the way of noise reduction.

No typical front garden hedges offer much in the way of noise reduction, as they're simply too thin to make much difference. At best you might get a bit of reduction in echo effects, but that will be better achieved with trees & bushes in other positions too, including those of neighbours. It's the mass of plant material you have around that's important.

A berm is a far better noise reducer, but that's not terribly practical in most front gardens!:rotfl:

The only thin barrier proven to reduce noise significantly, other than a fairly massive wall, would be a specialist product, like Jackson's Jakoustic fencing, but the price of 30' would probably make your hair stand on end.

Anything that prevents you seeing the source of the noise helps subjectively and gives privacy. Portuguese laurel has smaller leaves than the common or garden type, and in my opinion, looks classier. If you decide to go for deciduous, plant hornbeam in preference to beech, as it leafs-up much earlier in spring.