I am looking to put in a hedge along a walkway. The space for the hedge is fairly narrow (about 2 feet wide). I would like the hedge to be able to grow to around 7 or 8 feet tall (and trimmed if required after that for height and likely always trimmed for width). I get about 4 hours of direct sun a day there during spring and summer and in the dead of winter there is only reflected light from the building next door. Cedars are a natural choice but moving from Ottawa to Vanvouver, I was hoping for something a little more exotic. Would bay laurel (Laurus Nobilis) work in this situation? What about ceanothus? Any other suggestions would be appreciated!
Box (Buxus sempervirens) would work very well and give the neatest hedge when trimmed, though it would take a long time to reach the desired height; Yew (Taxus baccata) would also work, and be faster and not much less neat. Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) is too coarse and Cedar (Cedrus libani) wouldn't work at all well.
Thanks Michael. Box appeals even though I've never seen it that height before. I was actually thinking of Thuja occidentalis (Smaragd) when I mentioned cedar (I have to remember where I'm posting!). Would that work in this situation?
Thuja Degroot's Spire maybe. Very narrow, quite cool. I have it growing in a spot that gets patchy morning sun till noon, and it looks OK (but only 1 year so far). Ceanothus = very wide, constant trimming which means not getting much flower, and needs sun (I think) to bloom. Ivy is invasive and should not be planted anywhere. It's taking down the rest of the trees in Stanley Park that weren't blown down last winter. It's spread there by birds. Vines require constant tucking too - would you rather clip or tuck? I think I would go with one of the upright varieties of Taxus baccata, or maybe Cephalotaxus 'fastigiata' would also work. Or... Ilex would also grow in shade, and if you don't want total density you could go with Ilex crenata 'Mariesii' which is very cool to look at close up. Mine is single trunked and after some ten years is no wider than a foot. You could probably clip it or train it to multiple leaders to densify it though.
I'm a big fan of the columnar shaped yews myself. Some are green and some have a bit of color. One big advantage is that if they get too big someday - decade or decades - you can cut back to bare wood and have new sprouts. Whereas arborvitae would be devastated by the same kind of renovation.
Karin: Only ivy that is allowed to fruit is a problem. Keeping the ivy trimmed to its support would be no problem.
Thanks for the great ideas. I'm going to call around and see if I can view any of these plants live; somehow pictures on the internet never quite do it for me.
How wide is the walkway? With only 4 hours of light now, without the hedge, are you sure that you want a hedge? Are you looking for privacy? I am concerned about how it would feel to use the walkway next to an 8' high hedge. Perhaps an attractive fence with interesting perennials and groundcover planting would work for you.
The walkway is about 4 feet wide and about 75 feet long. Yes, I'm looking for some privacy from the building next door. I understand your concern - I don't want it to feel like a tunnel either. 6 feet height would likely work too. I have already planted 3 stewartia pseudocamellia evenly spaced. I'm really happy with this choice. Now I need something to fill in between the trees. A fence would work if I could soften the look a bit. Star Jasmine (trachelospermum jasminoides) appeals to me but I have never seen it used for larger surfaces like this here in Vancouver. I live downtown near the water so it is a bit milder here.
Stewartia psuedocamellia is a beautiful tree! I haven't seen star jasmine used as an outdoor plant. We live at the colder end of this plants range and they prefer sun but you could try it. I've seen this plant outside during the summer and taken in over the winter. Unfortunately, there are few options for shade tolerant flowering vines. The native honeysuckle may be tolerant of shade. There are more choices with non-flowering vines such as hops, akebia or ivy. I've seen photos of english ivy on to a lattice trained as an espalier.
