11 February 2024 , 08:00
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There’s nothing worse than prying neighbours peeping into your garden and invading your privacy, especially if you live in a terraced or semi-detached house.
In fact, more than 50 percent of Brits consider their nearby residents to be nosy, while 60 percent admit to watching their neighbours’ activities. Fortunately, a gardening expert has revealed the best privacy hedging to keep curious eyes at bay.
Morris Hankinson, director of Hopes Grove Nurseries, said: "Privacy hedging is a fantastic feature that can stylishly but effectively filter strong winds, noise, pollution, and nosy neighbours." With over 100 choices of hedge plants in a variety of sizes, it can be difficult to know which species is most effective.
But the gardening guru hails the Common or Cherry Laurel as the "best" for privacy on account of it being both evergreen and fast growing. He added: "The large shiny leaves give great coverage and look immaculate all year round.
"This is a plant that suffers from few pests and diseases and is easy to grow in a wide range of soil types. Laurel hedge plants come in a variety of sizes and root types making them a good option regardless of your budget, another reason for them making it onto many people’s shortlist."
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If your garden is overlooked by your neighbours’ upstairs windows, Morris claims pleached trees can make an effective screening solution. The hedge on stilts are available in a variety of heights up to 3.5 metres, with Photina, Portuguese Laurel, Evergreen Oak, or Holly, being highly praised.
What other plants make good privacy hedges?
If you’re not a fan of the Common or Cherry Laurel, the expert has highlighted other options that will give your plot complete privacy. These include:
Portuguese Laurel
A cousin of the Cherry Laurel with smaller shiny leaves and reddish coloured young stems. It’s a great choice for chalky soil, one of the few situations where Cherry Laurels don’t thrive.
Osmanthus x Burkwoodii
A hedge with much smaller evergreen leaves that clip so neatly they can even be used for topiary. This charming shrub produces delightfully fragrant white flowers that blossom during spring, filling the garden with their scent. This fine shrub makes a great hedge of up to two metres or more.
Thuja plicata Atrovirens
Also known as the Western Red Cedar, it makes a great alternative to Leylandii hedges in many gardens because it’s a little slower growing and therefore easier to maintain.
Morris said: "You can tell the difference between the two by the pineapple scent from the Thuja foliage when you bruise it, and unlike Leylandii you can cut these conifers back hard and they will sprout again from the old wood. They make a great boundary hedge that will provide privacy as well as filtering noise and pollution."
Photinia shrubs
This oval shaped foliage is brilliant red when young, while older shrubs produce stunning white flowers in early summer. "Most gardeners are familiar with the most popular variety ‘Red Robin’ but there are some other really great kinds such as ‘Camilvy’, ‘Carre Rouge’ and ‘Dynamo Red’ too," explained the expert.
Griselinia littoralis
According to Morris, this upright growing evergreen shrub will develop quite quickly to make a very effective hedge for privacy. The plants are easy to care for and make a great choice for seaside gardens as the plants are unaffected by the salty winds of winter storms.
Avoid conflict with neighbours
The last thing that you want is conflict with neighbours over the height of your hedge, but there are some guidelines that you must abide by before planting. If the hedge falls under the following categories, a neighbours complaint could be taken under consideration by the local council:
It’s growing on land owned or occupied by someone else
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It’s made up of a line of two or more trees or shrubs
It’s mostly evergreen or semi-evergreen
It’s more than two metres tall
It’s a barrier to light or access (even if there are gaps)
Hopes Grove Nurseries explains: "Much like branches, tree roots can also encroach onto your neighbour’s land. If this happens, your neighbours have the right to cut the roots back to the boundary line."
Similarly, if branches are overhanging into your neighbours garden, this can lead to falling leaves, damaged fences, blocked lighting, or be a hazard to children and pets. Therefore, it’s crucial to prune regularly and understand your gardening rights.