Advice needed: hedges around the front of white stone filled frontyard

[arian10daddy]

Hi all,

Attached below is the pic of my frontyard. As you can see, its filled with white stone. I am planning on replacing the letter box with a timber frame and stainless steel box letterbox, along with planting a hedge on the front to form a screen between yard and ped walk. Its about 7-8 m length that needs to be planted.

I was initially looking at english/japanese box because I liked the look of a formal hedge. But the slow growth rate pushed me away from these option. I was also looking at nandina (maybe, nana) because of its red foliage in winters.

What would you all suggest for this frontyard hedging of ideally 1 m height and moderate growth rate, evergreen, preferably flowering?

Eagerly awaiting all suggestions!!

Varun

 

[diy_hausdesigns]

Hi there.

I planted a silver sheen hedge - pittosporum and it has more than doubled in height in under a year. It is evergreen shimmers in sunlight and grows pretty quickly. 

All the best 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @arian10daddy,

I'm a fan of red leaf photinia because of its deep red new growth and white flowers in spring. It makes a fantastic hedging plant as it has a fast growth rate and dense foliage when trimmed into shape.

You might like to check out some of our screening and hedge plants and Ten fast-growing plants for privacy. 

You should also find this step-by-step guide useful: How to plant a hedge.

Let me mention @Adam_W and @Noelle to see if they had any suggestions.

Mitchell

[Noelle]

Hi Varun

Either of the two suggestions already made - Pittosporum 'Silver Sheen' or red photinia (Photinia 'Red Robin'?) - would work well.  You will need to keep them well trimmed to encourage business as well as to restrict the height to around 1m. Within 18months to 2 years you should have a successful screen come dividing line to protect your property.

[Adam_W]

Hi @arian10daddy,
I love a good hedge. Okay, one question for you before I give a few thoughts... where are you located?
Box - agree 100%. I love a good box hedge but they can be very slow. The 'true' box hedge normally uses Buxus sempervirens varieties which is know to be slow but if you want that box look Buxus microphylla 'japonica' varieties are faster (by comparison).
Some other choices for that low border hedge look could be the smaller Camellia sasanqua varieties. They'll give you a fantastic flowering display from autumn through winter.
The native coastal rosemary, Westringa fruticosa, is also an excellent choice. Tends to spot flower almost all year with little white to mauve flowers.
There are some excellent Indian hawthorn varieties (Rhaphiolepis indica cultivars) but these can't be grown in some council regions.
The Pittosporum varieties can be excellent and quite fast but they do have a tendency to drop dead almost overnight if they stay too wet or after extended rain periods so they are a big no for clay or other poorly drained soils and spots.
Depending on your area you may be able to use Gardenias. They hedge very well and their fragrance is just divine.
A good rough rule of thumb to remember when selecting plants is that if you want a final growth height of say 1m then select a plant variety that has a growth height of at least 1.2 to 1.5m. This way you are not waiting forever for it to reach its maximum height and it will stay a lot denser when pruned.

[arian10daddy]

Hi Adam and others,

Thanks for all your valuable inputs. I love the options provided, however I just can't shake myself away from the Nandina Nana. I just loved the red and green small leaves. I am concerned about planting these in the dead of winter in western suburbs of Melbourne. We have been seeing negative temperature in the night lately. But i'm going to plant about 10 of these plants across 5-6 meters length for now and see how it goes. Although I believe these to be pretty hardy but if these die, I can always go back to some of the more hardier suggestions from you all.

Will keep you all posted on what happens.

[Adam_W]

No worries @arian10daddy personally I'd hold off on planting until at least late winter. Mainly because it's very hard to get the after-care right during the colder months.
I just checked one of my reference texts & Nandina should be hardy to as much as -10˚C so I wouldn't worry too much about the cold.