There are many wonderful benefits of owning your own low maintenance hedges. You give your garden a beautiful boost and do so at a minimal cost to yourself! No need to worry about tending to your hedges religiously, instead you can just enjoy your new view. And that’s not to mention you can improve your property value. So let’s dig in our troughs and start cutting through the 7 benefits low maintenance hedges can give you!
Easy care and maintenance
One of the more low maintenance hedges – Common Box (Buxus sempervirens)
Hedges such as the Common Box (Buxus Sempervirens) are easy to care for and are one of the best small hedge plants. This particular variety is the classic low evergreen hedge for border edging. They can add a touch of class to any garden, and if you so desire, can be trimmed tightly to maintain a formal shape. One of the advantages of choosing hedges that require little attention is the fact they will grow nearly anywhere. So regardless of whether you have a large or small space, you can rest assured you will keep these alive.
Save on labour and equipment
Low maintenance hedges are the more cost-effective choice for obvious reasons. Less care is needed, so less labour is needed! Regardless of your intended landscaping or gardening project, choosing hedges with this in mind will speed up completion. If speed is something you have in mind, fast growing hedge plants such as the Lonicera nitida might be right up your street!
Lonicera nitida is a fast-growing hedge plant
However, faster growing does indeed mean more pruning! So, sometimes a balance between speed and maintenance is something to think about. It’s an important consideration for homeowners and businesses. Traditional hedges can indeed be time-consuming, often needing a gardener to be hired to do the work! With low maintenance hedges, you can save money on additional labour, and also equipment costs. The less you need to prune your hedges, the longer your equipment will last. So, the slower your hedge grows the more time and money you will save.
Increase your property value
A well-maintained hedge can improve the overall appearance of your garden, holistically improving your property. For potential buyers, it will be attractive to see that their garden will have added privacy, and can also help them envision themselves having an enjoyable time in your space. In summer months, larger hedges can also provide shade for your home, which can lower the cost of cooling the house.
More time to enjoy your garden
The less time you spend nurturing your hedges, the more time you have to enjoy the results. This is a great one that you shouldn’t overlook! Why even have a garden if you never have time to enjoy it? Don’t forget why you might have started improving your home in the first place.
Variety of options for different climates and spaces
You might think by narrowing your search to low maintenance hedges, you’d cut through many of your options. Luckily, there are many varieties of low maintenance hedges to choose from! If you are stuck for space, perhaps low growing hedges will be more your style.
A low-growing hedge, the Euonymus Jean Hugues
Perhaps you’re after something hardier that can take all kinds of weather conditions? A yew hedge can be grown in a variety of soils. This deciduous hedge also requires very little pruning, and due to its thickness, it can also act as a windbreak. One thing to note though, you’ll need to provide drainage – yew is not a fan of too much moisture!
Yew Hedge – fool-hardy and evergreen
Or, maybe you’re looking for tall hedges for privacy. This brings us to our next point!
Low maintenance hedges can still provide privacy and aesthetic appeal
Prunus lau. Rotundifolia, or Common laurel.
Thick hedges such as the Prunus lau. Rotundifolia, also known as Common laurel or Cherry Laurel can provide excellent privacy for your garden. It can also be used to cover some more unsightly areas, for instance, a shed or old fencing. Best suited as a boundary hedge, Common laurel is a good example of a hedge that provides both privacy and aesthetic appeal.
Reduced risk of damage caused by over-pruning or neglect.
Not only that, but low maintenance hedges are far less likely to suffer damage from over-pruning, and also are less likely to die if neglected. So you can worry less about replacements or repairs to your hedges through professional help. Again, this makes this variety of hedges more cost-effective, which is always a good thing!
Top varieties for a stress-free Garden
With all of the benefits laid out for you, hopefully, you’ve started to think about what would suit you best! Low maintenance hedges can be neatly split into two categories:
Evergreen Hedges
What are evergreen hedges? Evergreen hedges maintain their foliage all year round, they won’t lose leaves in autumn or winter. This makes evergreen hedges very appealing! You won’t have to worry about privacy when it comes to the colder months, your hedges will keep up appearances every day of the year. There are a variety of evergreen hedge plants that you will be familiar with from this blog, including the Common Box. They lend themselves to being low maintenance by saving you time, you won’t have to be picking up any dead leaves, and typically require less pruning than deciduous hedges.
The evergreen Elaeagnus eb. Compacta
Deciduous Hedges
What are deciduous hedges? Deciduous hedges are plants that lose their leaves in autumn and winter. Typically, deciduous hedges have green leaves through spring and summer and lose them through the colder months. You might be thinking this makes evergreen hedges the clear winner, but according to the Royal Horticultural Society, an advantage of a deciduous hedge is that it will filter wind in winter avoiding the damaging turbulence associated with dense evergreen hedges. So, if your garden is susceptible to high winds in the winter, it might be beneficial to go for a deciduous hedge to help ease the potential damage.
The deciduous hawthorn, or crataegus monogyna
Closing thoughts
Hopefully, by now you can see the many wonderful benefits of owning your own low maintenance hedges. Maybe the real question is ‘what is the easiest hedge to maintain?‘, and that can depend on your outlook. If you’re after something that you don’t have to think about too much, you can’t go wrong with the common laurel. If you’re after something a bit more upmarket, perhaps you might like the broadleaf. Whatever you might be into, we have a diverse range here at Readyhedge and we are always here to help you make an informed decision. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any queries!