Guelder Rose hedging has beautiful flowers in the spring, and vibrant red berries in the autumn
Image: Guelder Rose (Hedging) from Thompson & Morgan
Hedges are generally viewed as practical but dull garden workhorses, marking boundaries and screening ugly vistas or providing a plain backdrop to more colourful planting. But hedges don’t have to be boring, and there is a place in the garden for more flamboyant hedging choices.
There are many hedging shrubs which offer flowers, including some practical evergreens which still perform as dense screens. Smaller flowering shrubs provide opportunities for pretty path edges or to divide up areas. Flowering hedges can provide a lift to an otherwise plain and predictable landscape, enlivening an ordinary boundary hedge with a seasonal surprise of colour.
Annelise Brilli is the Horticultural Copywriter for Thompson and Morgan. Annelise caught the gardening bug from her mother, whose tiny backyard was crammed with a huge collection of plants. As an adult, she had a career change into horticulture, gaining a training apprenticeship with the National Trust at Powis Castle Garden in Welshpool. She went on to work in a range of private and public gardens, later running a garden design and maintenance business. She is passionate about sustainable gardening and has developed her own wildlife-friendly garden which she has opened as part of Macmillan Coastal Garden Trail.
