This second article in our series of popular plants for landscaping covers hedging plants.
Hedging is a popular landscaping technique used to control the height and width of plants to create a uniformed look. Hedging plants encourages new growth, and will create a packed bushy aesthetic. Hedges are ideal to create a natural barrier (ideal as a wind break) which is both sturdy and robust. The density of the plants and the hedge can create privacy from neighbours while provide a natural way to bring the plants together to create levels, sculptures or boarders. Here are our most popular hedging plants.
Lilly Pilly - Syzygium Australe Resilience
This evergreen tree creates a strong, sturdy hedge due to its thick foliage. You will have a light green plant most of the year, however when new growth appears, it has a reddish look that provides the hedge with a beautiful colour. The resilience version of the Lilly Pilly is psyllid resistant and will produce little white flowers. The Lilly Pilly is a fast-growing tree and will get up to 5m tall unless pruned and will produce a solid hedge. It does however require regular pruning to maintain the size and shape required. Lilly Pilly’s prefer sun to light shaded areas.
Buxus microphylla japonica Japanese Box
A smaller growing hedging plant, the Buxus provides a dense hedge with year-round bright green foliage. Only growing to around 1metre in height, the Buxus offers a fantastic option for under trees, and to create levels in gardens with taller hedges or plants. The Buxus plant is ideal for gardens wishing to stand out with topiary; the art of pruning the plants into shapes and even animal sculptures. Due to its density and ability to be shaped, a Buxus hedge is ideal in areas where you need curves. Buxus plants prefer sun, however will also do well in semi shade areas.
Camellias
A favourite of ours, the camellias are an ideal hedging plant. Available in many varieties, you can plant your hedge to suit your colour preference and flower style. Camellias come in both Camellia Sasanqua and Camellia Japonica. You can see the differences between these key camellia varieties here. Each camellia has a unique flower with some being single or double, informal or formal flowers. Colours available include White, Pink, Red, Yellow and many more. As you will plant multiple camellias to create your hedge, you can utilise a variety of colours throughout the hedge. Here are our five most popular camellias for hedging.
Viburnum odoratissimum
Another fast-growing hedging plant, the Viburnum odoratissimum can offer a tall hedge growing up to 4 metres tall which can also be pruned to a shorter level. Their preference is for full sun to partly shady areas. The Viburnum offers large glossy green leaves throughout the year, with clusters of tiny white fragrant flowers in spring. They are a hardy plant that is ideal for hedging.
Photinia Fraserii Red Robin
The Photinia Fraserii Red Robin as the name suggests provides a brilliant green and red hedge. This evergreen plant is dense and ideal for hedging, while its new growth has a stunning red colour bringing warmth to the garden. It is robust and offers small white flower clusters in Spring. It can grow to be around 6 metres tall if not pruned to remain at a shorter level. If you are looking for a hedge quickly, this fast-growing plant will not disappoint you. Similar to the rest of the hedging plants mentioned, the Photinia Fraserii Red Robin prefers full sun.
Hedging plants offer year-long green foliage for your garden, keeping it looking great at all times. Once established, hedges can provide privacy, barriers, style and create boarders throughout your garden. Flora Nursery specialise in growing camellias, general lines along with trees and shrubs ideal for hedging. Get your garden maintenance person or landscaper or visit your local nursery and ask them to supply you with these quality plants from Flora Nursery.
Take a look at our other articles around popular ground cover plants and boarder plants.