We are not called All Year Bloom for nothing, here's how to plant a beautiful hedge that flowers all year long :
Plant your boundaries with a choice of evergreen flowering shrubs. These plants grow to around 3 metres high, evergreens keep their leaves all year, meaning they give good privacy. Choosing a good variety means it's not only possible to have a flowering hedge all year round, it's easy.
DAPHNE ODORA
Reaching 1.5 metres high and 1.5 metres wide. Highly prized for it's scented flowers which bloom in winter starting in January through to March.
GARRYA ELLIPTICA - THE SILK TASSEL BUSH
Such a winter garden show stopper. Reaches an eventual height and spread of 4 metres, but can easily be pruned back. Despite it's exotic good looks it loves a coastal garden and is utterly reliable. It's great for the front garden to impress the neighbours.
VIBURNUM TINUS 'EVE PRICE'
Winter flowers followed by blue berries. Every garden needs a Viburnum. It's lovely evergreen denseness provides a good privacy screen making it a gorgeous hedging plant. Eventual height if left unpruned will be 3 metres high and 3 metres wide.
So that's winter flowers and scent taken care of. Moving along the year and still planting up the boundaries with flowering shrubs.....
CHOISYA TERNATA
OK, this one only flowers for May, but it's also called Mexican Orange Blossom. The scent is off the charts, so you'll never regret planting it and I'll never regret including it in my list of faves. It's a proper cutie for the rest of the year too with evergreen glossy leaves. Flowers best in full sun areas. Another good hedging plant growing to 2.5 metre high and wide.
Escallonia 'Apple Blossom'
Another coastal lover, this makes the grade due to it's long season of interest flowering June to September and that no one else ever has them so you'll impress everyone with your gardening prowess. Eventual height of 2.5 M by 2.5 M. Another good hedger, although it will drop leaves in really cold snaps (fully hardy - will recover). Also it's lovely bare stems look good with fairy lights draped on them.
PHILADELPHUS BELLE ETOILE
Also called Mock Orange - scented flowers that will knock your socks off. It's an exceptional choice for near the front door. The lime green of the foliage makes it attractive when its not in flower. Fragrance, fragance, fragrance.
HYDRANGEA 'ANNABELLE'
Flowering from July to September and my personal favourite. These open ivory and fade to green. If I had the space, I'd grow acres of them. They are often marketed as suitable for full sun areas but don't be deceived, they absolutely thrive in damp shade. They will not thank you for being in a pot either. They do best in semi shade but can cope with full shade and this just makes them so useful for those awkward spots. Eventual height 2.5M. It loses it's leaves in winter so not one for year round privacy. If you like to fill vases for the house, buy one for the garden and one for cutting.
ARBUTUS UNEDO
Another incredibly exotic looking one to impress the neighbours with. Often called the strawberry tree it's fully hardy and happy in coastal areas. Small white flowers followed by incredibly vivid but inedible fruits. The tree variety can grow unpruned to 8 metres, the 'compacto' variety grows to a bushy 2.5M . Flowers October to November.
So there we go, a little walk through the All Year Bloom guide to hedging. Flowering from January to December. Isn't nature amazing? Not to be preachy but hedges are so necessary for our little feathered pals too, particularly the evergreen ones. Flowers, habitats and privacy to boot. What's not to love?
We can source and supply all shrubs listed. They come in various sizes, pop an email to contact@allyearbloom.com for further info.