On 2013-10-04 11:51:43 +0100, echinosum said:

pete_r;993182 Wrote:
I am in Derbyshire
I want an evergreen hedge
I can get to both sides of it to cut.
It is direct sunlight(when out lol)
Pyracantha has quite hard wood, and most kinds have nasty thorns, so can
be hard work to prune.

I think some kinds of berberis make excellent hedges, evergreen, nice
flowers, berries (which make nice jam if you can be bothered), and thin
shoots for easy pruning with an electric hedge trimmer. You can
successfully keep a hedge just a foot thick out of suitable varieties of
berberis. You can even choose purple leaves if you want. You can choose
your variety from the hedge specialists. To reduce the pruning effort,
choose a small one like Nana, though that will mean it will take a few
years to get to 5 ft. Very winter hardy in general too, so would be fine
even in Buxton.

And Sambucus nigra can be used for hedging and is very pretty, as in
'Black Lace'. We have a few Beberis in the garden here and some are
pretty but some also have vicious thorns! Good old laurel is
attractive when well kept and so is Elaeagnus, though that too, can be
thorny.

--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk