CUTTING-EDGE HEDGING

CONVERT A SIMPLE LINE OF SHRUBS OR TREES INTO A STATEMENT THAT WILL MAKE YOUR GARDEN A STANDOUT!

1 GO UP A LEVEL

Plant hedges to your heart’s content – and make each one different. This design by BHG TV’s Charlie Albone won an award at the 2016 Chelsea Flower Show for its multilevel layout, starting under a relaxing canopy and leading to a sunken garden, with different hedges leading the way.

Think of a hedge as not just a way to define your boundary, give privacy or hide an eyesore, but as a thing of beauty, whether formal or informal. You can shape and twirl it into intricate or gentle shapes, or choose one that bursts into flower – especially in winter if it’s a camellia. Use it as a backdrop to a colourful border or grow one as a garden room divider. Big or small, a hedge is more than your garden’s outer frame. It can be an intrinsic part of your whole design.

2 TAKE THIS ANGLE

Create crannies in a yew hedge so your stroll through the garden is full of surprises. Fill them with small trees and shade-loving plants and each season will bring a new look.

3 PUT YOUR FEET UP!

Informal get-togethers hosted in your back garden become more relaxed if the hedging hiding the neighbours is allowed to retain its looser, more natural, shape. It means less work for you, too!

4 SHINING EXAMPLE