Need a nice dense green hedge in your garden? Consider conifers. You may see this evergreen a little less than in the past in gardens, but that is really wrong. Like no other hedge tree, a conifer quickly provides a lot of privacy in your garden. It muffles ambient noise and there is a lot to choose from when it comes to color, shape and growth habit. From yellow-green to blue-green and from thin needle-like leaves to more broad flat leaves. And another advantage: maintenance is easy. Read more about versatile conifers in this gardening blog.
Conifers in all shapes and sizes
Worldwide there are hundreds of species of conifers (meaning ‘cone bearers’). It can be both a tree and a shrub. It just depends on whether or not it is pruned. When you let a conifer run its course, it can become a real tree.
There are some that can get really huge. A good example is the Italian cypress. You have probably seen the slender tree from the area around the Mediterranean Sea, which can grow up to 25 meters in height. But the Sequoia, the Coastal Giant sequoia beats everything. It is the tallest tree in the world. I once saw them in America and funny for such a huge tree: they also carry mini ‘cones’.
Which conifer to use as a hedge?
One conifer is therefore not the other. Each species has its own characteristics and if you want to use a conifer as a hedge, pay attention because one species is more suitable than the other for this. Two 2 popular varieties that can be used as hedges: the Thuja and the Cypress.
Thuja, a popular conifer hedge
Thuja, also called the ‘Tree of Life’ is the most popular variety. Why? The great advantage of this conifer is that it can be pruned back firmly to the old wood and then it will just grow back. Depending on your personal taste in color and foliage and how quickly you want to close your hedge, there is always one that fits your garden.
Don’t let the name of the dwarf cypress mislead you. There are varieties of this ‘dwarf’ that can become quite a giant! So check carefully. Just like the Californian sun, the Californian Cypress is a beautiful golden color and if you want a lot of privacy very quickly, the popular Leyland Cypress is suitable.
Chamaecyparis Lawsonia Columnaris; Blue conifer/ Dwarf cypress, narrow grey-blue leaves.
Chamaecyparis Lawsonia Ivonne: Yellow Conifer / California Cypress, golden, smells wonderful.
Cupressocyparis leylandii: Leyland cypress, fastest growing, open habit.