Best Plants for Hedging

1. Mexican Orange

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Botanical Name: Choisya ternata

USDA Zone: 7-9

This plant makes for a great informal hedge with pretty white blooms that also have a sweet scent during spring and summer.

Look at the flowers that start with ‘D’ here

2. Boxwood

fast-growing-trees

Botanical Name: Buxus

USDA Zone: 6-8

Grow Boxwood that has the potential to tolerate frequent shaping and shearing into different geometric shapes and forms. You can even leave it unpruned for its natural shape.

3. Glossy Abelia

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Botanical Name: Abelia x grandiflora

USDA Zone: 6-9

This hedge plant naturally forms an arching mound. The dark green-colored leaves change colors during the fall and turn into purple-bronze.

4. Redclaws

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Botanical Name: Escallonia rubra var. macrantha

USDA Zone: 8-9

This shiny evergreen shrub has a tendency to grow up quickly and make for an informal hedge. This hedge plant bears rosy crimson-colored flowers from June to early autumn.

5. Flowering Quince

davesgarden

Botanical Name: Chaenomeles

USDA Zone: 4-8

You can add much charm to your spring garden or landscape with this hedge plant with blooms in shades of pink, scarlet, or white.

Fun Fact: This deciduous shrub consists of sharp-edged spines that keep many animals away.

Check out the best shade-loving shrubs here

6. Japanese Spindle

 

Botanical Name: Euonymus japonicus

USDA Zone: 6-11

This is another hedge plant that grows quite fast with glossy dark green-colored leaves. It cannot tolerate dry weather or drought-like conditions but can handle any kind of soil.

7. Golden Ticket Privet

 

Botanical Name: Ligustrum x vicaryi

USDA Zones: 5-8

The shiny foliage with cheerful yellow-colored flowers in spring and white-colored bloom in summer make for another great hedge plant.

8. Golden False Cypress

provenwinners

Botanical Name: Chamaecyparis pisifera

USDA Zones: 4-8

Dwarf varieties can make for good hedge plants with their golden foliage. You can preferably go for Gold Mop, Sungold, Filifera Aurea, and Sungold.

9. Oleander

 

Botanical Name: Nerium oleander

USDA Zones: 8-10

You can always trust an Oleander to be the show stopper with its fragrant flowers in vibrant shades of pink, peach, red, or white from summer to fall.

10. Common Holly

 

Botanical Name: Ilex aquifolium

USDA Zones: 5-9

Holly could be difficult to establish, but gardeners often would say how this plant is worth preserving. This plant can thrive in extremely polluted areas and winds.

Find out the flowers that start with ‘H’ here

11. Yellow Asian Firethorn

 

Botanical Name: Pyracantha

USDA Zones: 7-10

This hedge plant is prickly and can be so helpful in deterring animals from entering your landscape or garden. It is also another fast grower and looks great with white flowers.

12. Spirea

 

Botanical Name: Spiraea

USDA Zones: 3-8

With pink or white flowers and glossy foliage, Spirea makes for another great hedge plant to make for a privacy screen. It has been a favorite of gardeners for many decades now.

Learn about growing and planting Spirea here

13. Holly Oak

Botanical Name: Quercus ilex

USDA Zones: 7-10

Evergreen Oak or Holm can make for another excellent choice of the dense screen that is even tall. It is another fast grower and can grow well in well-drained soil.

14. Korean Lilac

 

Botanical Name: Syringa

USDA Zones: 3-7

This deciduous shrub is always covered with flowers in the purple shade in May. Prune right after there are blooms to make sure it makes for a great floral display again next year.

15. Camellia

 

Botanical Name: Camellia japonica

USDA Zones: 7-10

These flowering beauties can be used to make a formal or informal hedge. Prune the plant at a low or high level, depending upon your preference and needs.

16. Hydrangea

 

Botanical Name: Hydrangea macrophylla

USDA Zones: 3-8

Hydrangea can make for an excellent choice for a hedge plant with its different shape, size, bloom time, and color. They are great for the best show of flowers in summer.

Want to grow Hydrangea from cuttings? Click here

17. Myrtifolia

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Botanical Name: Prunus lusitanica ‘Myrtifolia’

USDA Zones: 7-10

This species can form a bright hedge display mainly because of its glossy, small leaves in dark green color. It can grow well in dry soil and heat.

18. Common Hawthorn

shutterstock/Wiert nieuman

Botanical Name: Crataegus monogyna

USDA Zones: 4-7

As the name indicates, Common Hawthorn is one of the best hedge plants. It is another fast grower with white flowers that bloom in May, followed by red berries.

19. Ebbing’s Silverberry

 

Botanical Name: Elaeagnus x ebbingei

USDA Zones: 7-10

This plant is another fast-grower and could be handy in windy places. It also prefers all kinds of soil except shallow chalk ones and is great for pleaching.

20. Hedge Germander

Ley Baumschule

Botanical Name: Teucrium x lucidrys

USDA Zones: 7-9

This is an evergreen shrub that makes for another attractive hedge plant. Its pink flowers look striking against a lush dark, glossy green foliage.

Check out the best fast-growing privacy shrubs here

21. Japanese Holly

 

Botanical Name: Ilex crenata

USDA Zones: 5-6

This hedge plant could be difficult to establish and even has a growing habit of going branched or upright. But the effort will be worth it as it looks quite good.

22. Beach Rose

 

Botanical Name: Rosa rugosa

USDA Zones: 2-8

This is a tough shrub that bears sweet-smelling flowers starting from June to August. It can make for an informal or formal deciduous hedge plant.

23. European Hornbeam

instanthedge

Botanical Name: Carpinus betulus

USDA Zones: 4-8

Another easy-to-grow and fast-growing specimen that can make for a formal hedge plant. It can tolerate sunlight, exposed areas, shade, and most kinds of soil.

24. Green Olive tree

 

Botanical Name: Phillyrea latifolia

USDA Zones: 7-9

The Green olive tree can be used as a great hedge plant with lush dark green leaves in a round shape. It is quite hardy and can even grow very well in containers.

25. European Beech

 

Botanical Name: Fagus sylvatica

USDA Zones: 4-7

This is another excellent choice for a formal hedge plant as it features leaves in shades of russet when planted as hedges.

Check out the best winter flowering shrubs here

26. Cherry Laurel

 

Botanical Name: Prunus laurocerasus

USDA Zones: 6-8

Cherry Laurel is another fast-grower with a habit of spreading wide. With big green leaves, it prefers full sunlight and can tolerate drought-like situations.

27. Lavender

 

Botanical Name: Lavandula

USDA Zones: 5-9

Many cultivars of Lavandula can make for colorful, great hedge plants with fragrant flowers. This plant loves full sunlight and requires regular pruning.

Want to grow Lavender in pots? Click here

28. Juneberry

 

Botanical  Name: Amelanchier lamarckii

USDA Zones: 4-10

Juneberry is an attractive flowering tree that blossoms in spring with lush foliage that turns from a coppery-red shade in spring to green and then finally into fiery red during the fall.

29. Hedge Maple

 

Botanical  Name: Acer campestre

USDA Zones: 5-8

This maple plant with flowers is quite a trend amongst hedges and is another rapid grower. It can make a dramatic impact on your garden.

30. American Arborvitae

 

 

Botanical Name: Thuja occidentalis

USDA Zones: 3-8

This cultivar is popular for providing dense privacy. It is a common hedge plant due to its compact growth and upright, soft-textured foliage.

31. Sweet Mock Orange

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Botanical  Name: Philadelphus coronarius

USDA Zones: 4-8

Sweet Mock Orange is also referred to as English Dogwood. With beautiful white flowers and dark green foliage, it can fill any space with a sweet fragrance in summer.

Check out the best types of white flowers here

32. Canadian Hemlock

plants

Botanical Name: Tsuga canadensis

USDA Zones: 3-7

These trees prefer shade and can also thrive well in full sunlight. Grow them in rows for a  great privacy screen, thanks to their dense growth.

33. Mountain Laurel

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Botanical Name: Kalmia latifolia

USDA Zones: 4-9

Mountain Laurel is another evergreen broadleaf that makes for excellent hedges. The shrub also fills your garden with pink blooms from spring to summer.

34. Lilac

 

Botanical Name: Syringa vulgaris

USDA Zones: 3-7

This bush can be one of your best choices for the fragrance. Plant several Lilac plants in a line to make a hedge that will be full of blooms in no time!

35. Azaleas

 

Botanical Name: Rhododendron

USDA Zones: 5-9

As with privets, azaleas can be evergreen or deciduous, but their flowers are far superior to those that come in pink, orange, white, red, and yellow hues.

Find out the best shrubs for containers here

36. Barberry Bush

ogarnijogrod

Botanical Name: Berberis thunbergii

USDA Zones: 4-8

If you are looking for a hedge plant for security, you can pick Barberry Bushes because of its sharp thorns. With bright red berries in winter, the bushes can even look gorgeous in winter.

37. Rose of Sharon

 

Botanical Name: Hibiscus syriacus

USDA Zones: 5-9

It is another common hedge plant that is valuable to many gardeners for its late-summer blooms. It continues to be colorful and alive even after most flowering plants have stopped blooming for the year.

Look at the best Hibiscus varieties here

38. Yew Bush

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Botanical Name: Taxus

USDA Zones: 4-8

These needle-bearing evergreens are popular because of their tolerance towards the shade. They can also grow tall enough to act as privacy screens.

39. Forsythia

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Botanical Name: Forsythia

USDA Zones: 6-8

You can choose this hedge plant for its flowers are one of the first to bloom in spring. It is low maintenance and doesn’t even require much pruning.

40. Privet

Shutterstock/Paul Maguire

Botanical Name: Ligustrum

USDA Zones: 4-7

Privet hedges can be a spectacular addition to your garden. They grow without any fuss as they are quite invasive in nature.

41. Copper Leaf Plant

gardendrum

Botanical Name: Acalypha wilkesiana

USDA Zones: 10-11

This semi-evergreen plant produces green, pink, yellow, copper, cream, and orange leaves in oval or heart shape. It is also popular as Jacob’s coat.

42. Golden Dewdrops

indiamart

Botanical Name: Duranta erecta

USDA Zones: 10-11

With striking evergreen foliage, some varieties also feature variegated or gold leaves. In spring and summer, you can also find them in white, violet, or light blue blossom clusters.

Find out the best shrubs that bloom all year round here

43. Hummingbird Bush

clickasnap

Botanical Name: Hamelia patens

USDA Zones: 9-11

A deciduous shrub that reaches a height of 2 feet and spreads up to 3 feet wide, Hummingbird Bush looks stunning with bright tubular flowers on velvety gray-green foliage.

44. Red Tip Photinia

 

Botanical Name: Photinia × fraseri

USDA Zones: 7-9

Red Tip Photinia is an evergreen ornamental shrub that is noted for its attractive red and green foliage. The plant blooms with tiny white flowers.

45. Brazilian Spinach

plantexplorer.longwoodgardens

Botanical Name: Alternanthera

USDA Zones: 10-12

A low-lying perennial that also serves as a nutritious leafy vegetable. It is consumed as a salad green or main course vegetable in many places.

46. Weeping Fig

shutterstock/Jiggo_Putter Studio

Botanical Name: Ficus benjamina

USDA Zones: 10-12

The glossy pointed leaves on the arching branches make for a statement houseplant. The plant is also considered lucky as per the Feng Shui traditions.

Learn about Growing Weeping Fig here

47. Herbst’s Bloodleaf

 

Botanical Name: Iresine herbstii

USDA Zones: 10-11

This ornamental hedge plant displays red leaves variegated with white and green markings and looks stunning on garden borders.

48. Lantana

 

Botanical Name: Lantana

USDA Zones: 7a-11b

Lantanas are popular as ground covers, and the colorful floral clusters add an extraordinary charm to the yard. The flowers bloom in pink, orange, red, yellow, and purple.