Traditional hedges were trimmed into formal shapes with buttresses, pediments and crenellations being common. Contemporary designers have created wonderful curved and flowing shapes, offset and complementing each other rather than following a set, regulated pattern. These hedges create a wonderful drama and structure even in the winter months.
Traditional hedges
Trimmed into formal shapes
Very formal hedges are best when of yew (Taxus baccata) or box (Buxus sempervirens). However in New Zealand conditions yew can be affected by drier conditions, wind or wet feet. Macrocarpa (Cupressus macrocarpa) is a good alternative, although it requires clipping at least twice a year to keep a well-defined outline.
Formal hedges are clipped, architectural, structural elements in the garden. Famous gardens such as Hidcote, Sissinghurst and our own Ohinetahi used formal hedges to great effect, enclosing spaces, creating vistas and defining garden rooms and atmosphere with the severe geometry of the hedges.
Lower hedges will create lines and define garden areas and reinforce an underlying design. Patterned gardens using low hedges, or parterres, are traditionally made from box but it is interesting to use different hedging to achieve a more varied and imaginative result. The patterns are usually based on a square, a rectangle and can be very complex or simple. A style that has its origins in Roman gardens, parterre gardens are still an effective a way of dealing with a small or enclosed garden.
Parterres are best made from dwarf box (Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa') or Santolina (Santolina chamaecyparissus). Striking alternatives are germander (Teucrium fruticans), Lonicera nitida (needs frequent clipping), hebe or berberis.
Informal Hedges Informal hedges are freer flowing, more of a decorative than a structural element in the garden. Informal hedges are a row of bushes merging together to form a division or barrier. Most are 'shaggy' and unrestrained and are not clipped tightly. As a result there are far more flowers and fruit than on a formal hedge- for example the flowers and hips on a rugosa rose hedge. Berberis or rose, chaemoneles or cornus, these plants can make a wonderful informal hedge. Many low hedges are informal - streams of lavender or roses edging a pathway.
Practical Planning with Hedges Determining whether to use a formal, informal, high or low hedge is an important design decision. The sheer bulk of a hedge makes it a more significant element than a garden fence and, in many cases, than wall.
Informal hedges are often unrestrained, even shaggy
A hedge is a long-term thing. This is not in the realm of planting some daffodils for next spring. As with any long-term feature, hedges should be planned on the garden plan at the beginning. Plot them on paper, mark them out on the ground with string, make a scale model and with a cardboard 'hedge' and place it in the garden to see how the shadow and shade affect the rest of the garden during the day.
Make sure you allow for the mature size of the hedge. Don't assume that a hedge will stay at 20cms, most are around 60cm (2ft) wide and many older hedges quite a deal wider. This is especially important when planting a hedge beside a path, driveway of building. A hedge that crowds a path makes it uncomfortable and eventually unusable. A hedge that crowds a driveway can reduce visibility to the extent that it becomes unsafe. And a hedge planted too close to a building can completely block the light.
Choosing Your Hedge Hedges are not maintenance free and when planning a hedge make sure that you take account for the work that it will entail. Either you must do this yourself or get someone in to do it for you. Poorly maintained hedges will do nothing to enhance your garden.
Hedge plants are mostly long-lived, the annual or twice annual clip helps plants to stay young and thrive. Many hedges will last for decades and some even longer.
A well-chosen carefully planned hedge is not only a living barrier for privacy and security; it provides necessary structure to a garden. Good design incorporating a well-maintained hedge demonstrates that they can, indeed, be 'one of the glories of the garden'.
Hedging used to be restricted to a few plants - yew, hornbeam, beech, holly and box are the classic English-style hedges, with hawthorn for impenetrable stock barriers. In New Zealand our climate allows us to use escallonia, pittosporum, corokia, akeake and many other plants.
Hedging is a great opportunity to 'think outside the square' as we are so often urged today and to make informal hedge of a range of plants that would have been unheard of before. Many old hedges are allowed to billow and flow, rather than being confined and clipped, many new plants are tried as formal of informal hedges.
A well-chosen carefully planned hedge is not only a living barrier for privacy and security; it provides necessary structure to a garden. Good design incorporating a well-maintained hedge demonstrates that they can, indeed, be 'one of the glories of the garden'.
