In article ,
"'Mike'" writes:
| "Gregoire Kretz" wrote in message
| ...
|
| Box has a reputation for being easy, but if it's the 'real' box you have
| and not something hebe-like it grows reaaaaaaally slowly.

And it's suitable only for warmer parts and some soils.

| Holly doesn't seem too difficult either, but it needs regular shearing
| if you want to keep it compact enough for a hedge.
|
| Not to difficult? Seems to come up as a weed in our garden!! We also have
| lots of Bay popping up. We have produced a mixed hedge from that which is
| growing already, either with heel cuttings or self setters :-)

Holly is easy, yes, except in the very coldest parts and poorest soils.
Bay is suitable only for the warmer parts - in the past decade, most
of England, but before that it was dicey even in Cambridge. However,
bay is a seriously neglected hedging plant and I quite agree that it
should be considered.

Plums of various species are also worth considering. Even just planting
random plum stones from bought fruit will establish plants quite fast.
Fruit like the older damsons and greengages, mirabelles etc. are probably
more suitable than Victoria etc.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.