If you want to create a hedge, screen or windbreak in areas where delicate plants do not survive, choose hardier plants for your hedge. Look for plants that tolerate cold temperatures, dry conditions, poor soil or harsh winds. Choose plants that are right for your climate as well as the specific conditions in your landscape.
Deer-resistant hedging plants discourage the deer from entering the garden to feed. These plants are unappetizing to the browsing animals. “Noell” grevillea (Grevillea x “Noell”) covers its 4-foot-tall branches in rose-red and white flowers. This hardy shrub tolerates reflected heat from roads, driveways and walls. Gold Coast” English holly (Ilex aquifolium “Monvila”) produces dark-green leaves, edged with yellow and produces white spring flowers. This evergreen bush reaches 4 to 6 feet tall and wide. Other hardy hollies to grow as a hedge include “Compact” inkberry holly (Ilex glabra “Compacta”) and “Shamrock” holly (Ilex glabra “Shamrock”).
You may want to plant a hedge as a physical barrier along property lines or between gardens. For this, you want plants stand up to animal and human invaders. Darwin barberry (Berberis darwinii) reaches 10 feet tall and wide with arching evergreen branches covered in glossy green leaves and masses of small golden-orange flowers. Both the stems and leaves are spiny. For shorter versions of the barberry shrub, try the warty barberry (Berberis verruculosa) at 5 feet tall or Mrs. Wilson’s barberry (Berberis wilsoniae) at 3 feet tall. Japanese mahonia (Mahonia japonica) creates a dense thicket 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide with spiny evergreen leaves and pale yellow winter flowers. “Buckland” mahonia (Mahonia x media “Buckland”) and “Charity” mahonia (Mahonia x media “Charity”) both grow to 15 feet tall and 12 feet wide.
Some hardy shrubs with small leaves and sturdy branches create windbreaks that slow strong winds down so they do not rip through the landscape. Shiny xylosma (Xylosma congestum) tolerates hot locations and has bronze-colored leaves and arching branches. This shrub reaches 10 to 12 feet tall and wide, and tolerates severe pruning. “Chindo” sweet viburnum (Viburnum awabuki “Chindo”) is a fragrant 12-foot-tall and 8-foot-wide hedging plant with dark green leaves. This evergreen produces white flowers, which turn into red berries that age to black in the fall. “Allegheny” viburnum (Viburnum rhytidophylloides “Allegheny”), Roundleaf laurustinus (Viburnum tinus “Robustum”) and “Pink Dawn” viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense “Pink Dawn”) are other wind-tolerant viburnum varieties.
Hardy Coastal Hedges
Growing hedging plants along the coast exposes the plants to dramatic weather, sandy soil and salt. “Green Spire” euonymus (Euonymus japonicas “Green Spire”) grows to 6 to 8 feet tall and 1 to 2 feet wide in a dense evergreen column with green flowers. “Silver King” euonymus (Euonymus japonicus “Silver King”) and boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus “Microphyllus”) are two other plants to try along the coast. “Arp” rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis “Arp”) is a cold-hardy aromatic plant with needle-like leaves and blue flowers. This rosemary variety grows to 6 feet tall spreading on 2 to 4 feet wide. “Tuscan Blue” rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis “Tuscan Blue”) is similar in size and growing habit.
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