Screening hedge mix: green privacy with flower and berry

More than a green wall

A hedge need not be a boring green wall. With the right mix of plants you create a living screen that flowers, scents, bears berries and attracts birds. Every month the hedge looks different — that is the charm of a mixed hedge.

Upload your photo at gardenworld.app and discover which hedge combination suits your garden.

Combination 1: Evergreen privacy hedge

Prunus laurocerasus 'Rotundifolia' (cherry laurel, 300 cm, broad-leaved), Taxus baccata (yew, 300 cm, fine texture) and Ilex aquifolium (holly, 300 cm, prickly leaves, red berries).

Dense and green all year. Cherry laurel grows fast for quick privacy; yew provides the finest texture; holly adds winter berries. Plant alternately at 60 cm spacing.

Combination 2: Flowering four-season hedge

Forsythia x intermedia (forsythia, 250 cm, yellow, March-April), Philadelphus coronarius (mock orange, 300 cm, white, fragrant, June), Rosa rugosa (rugosa rose, 150 cm, pink, June-September, rose hips) and Viburnum opulus (guelder rose, 300 cm, white lacecaps, red berries).

Every month this hedge offers something new. Forsythia opens the season with explosive yellow; mock orange fills summer with scent; rugosa rose flowers for months and produces hips; guelder rose closes with red autumn berries.

Combination 3: Native mixed hedge

Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn, 400 cm, white blossom, red haws), Corylus avellana (hazel, 400 cm, hazelnuts), Acer campestre (field maple, 400 cm, yellow autumn colour) and Sambucus nigra (elder, 400 cm, white umbels, black berries).

The classic countryside hedge. Ecologically golden: this hedge harbours dozens of bird species, insects and small mammals. The hazelnuts and elderberries are edible too.

Combination 4: Low flowering edging

Lavandula angustifolia (lavender, 40 cm, purple), Spiraea japonica 'Little Princess' (spirea, 50 cm, pink clusters) and Potentilla fruticosa 'Goldfinger' (shrubby cinquefoil, 80 cm, yellow flowers June-October).

As a low boundary along a path or terrace. No taller than a metre but full of flowers from May to October. Prune lightly after flowering for a compact shape.

Planting and care

Plant hedge shrubs in autumn (October-November) or early spring (February-March). Dig a trench 40 cm wide and deep. Improve the soil with compost. Plant in a zigzag pattern for a full hedge.

Mixed hedges are pruned more loosely than formal hedges. One trim per year in late summer is often enough. Let the natural growth forms show through.

Your living screen

A hedge is an investment in privacy, ecology and beauty. Discover at gardenworld.app how a mixed hedge could transform your garden boundary.