Modern hedging

Applesarefree

Just put a fence up, nature is overrated anyway.

SandyShores

I don't know if its any good for hedging but our ceanothus california lilac attracts all the bees when its in flower. We're pruning ours into a tree shape but you can get smaller ones like this one. Once flowering is over they are just green for the rest of the year, but its worth it for the spring/summer colour.

Edited to add - https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/ceanothus/for-informal-hedging

horsewithnoname

Lonicera nitida 'Baggesen's Gold' makes a good hedge and can be clipped into whatever “modern” looks like. Evergreen and is green in shade and gets more yellow the more sun it gets.

FreeBear

I've got a myrtle hedge. Not a rampant grower. Small evergreen leaves that smell real nice when crushed. Covered in small white flowers in the summer and followed by small, almost black berries which can be eaten (leaves & flowers can also be used in cooking).

Poncirus Trifoliata also makes for a good hedge in some areas - Has 3" long thorns, so once established, makes for an impenetrable barrier (US military use it in place of barbed wire in certain establishments).

Just don't use laurel - It is a fast growing thug of a plant and very difficult to get rid of (it will sucker from any fragments of root left in the ground) - Leaves & berries are also toxic to humans and animals.

Dizzycap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948621#Comment_81948621

I too have a Privet hedge and whilst it may not be considered 'modern' it's evergreen and has so many benefits to wildlife including providing a safe haven for Sparrow, Robins, Blackbirds, and others small birds when under attack / threatened etc from Magpies etc. It can also provide wonderful nesting / resting places and certainly attracts Ladybirds and even butterflies. Easy to maintain as only needs cutting back & shaping once a year late August / Early September leaving time for new growth for the following Spring.

fatbelly

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81960237#Comment_81960237

Yes, that's when I cut mine. It then stays neat for 11 months until it needs doing again. I have had a blackbird nest in it but have not noticed other wildlife paying attention to it. It is sort of evergreen but thins noticeably in the winter, just coming back into leaf now

Sapindus

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954254#Comment_81954254

I have spent most of my career working in nature conservation and I agree, with the fence bit anyway. I had one bit of overgrown privet hedge when I moved here and it was first against the wall when the revolution came. It's quite difficult to find a hedging plant that will flower and have berries under a tight trimming regime. In my mind much better to have a fence and some really nice small shrubs, perennials or wildflowers that can do what nature intended instead of being trimmed into a nice neat barrier. Put up some nestboxes, have a pond. Too many cats round here for the birds to have any success nesting in any but the thorniest densest hedge, and then it's a nightmare to trim.

Dustyevsky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81963364#Comment_81963364

The much-maligned leylandii hedge is pretty good at providing a safe space when it becomes dense. The same goes for our well clipped bay. A whole flock of sparrows may hide in that.

As for a hedge that produces berries under a clipping regime, there's our Cotoneaster simonsii, still carrying last autumn's in quantity. The birds obviously have better food on offer locally!

Sapindus

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81963634#Comment_81963634

But then you have to take into the equation the energy spent on clipping the things. Leylandii may provide cover but little else, and the endless cut and remove sucks any water and nutrients out of the surrounding soil. As you note, some shrubs do produce berries but if they are not liked by birds they don't really score on "good for nature".

I do like a nice bay tree though. At least you can give the cuttings away for culinary purposes!

Dustyevsky

Sapindus: But then you have to take into the equation the energy spent on clipping the things. Leylandii may provide cover but little else, and the endless cut and remove sucks any water and nutrients out of the surrounding soil.

I take the point about the effect on soil and growing nearby, but that applies to many hedges, even native ones. Sometimes it doesn't matter. As for the energy spent on maintenance, that's once a year, the same as the others.

Here's part of our leylandii hedge taken today and cut last October. It'll be cut again in six months time. If it inhibits the growth of anything on the walkway close by, that's a plus!