Garden Q&A: What hedge plant will offer shelter and privacy if I remove leylandii?

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions

A leylandii hedge. Pictures: iStock

We have a leylandii hedge in our garden. I hate it, but the hedge does provide privacy and shelter. I saw your post on social media recently about removing a leylandii hedge. What do you recommend we replace ours with? 

ANSWER

I am working on redesigning a garden right now and one element which has to be removed is an established leylandii hedge — a job I will do in the winter. 

It has outgrown its space and its time is up. 

Mixing beech, pictured, with other species can make for a very interesting hedge. 

In this particular garden, I will replace it with a fagus or beech hedge as the garden only needs something to reach about two metres. 

I love beech as a hedge and, thankfully, so does the garden owner. 

So before I could answer your question, you need to think about how much screening and wind protection you need.

Beech is good in a sheltered area but the brown leaves in the winter aren’t to everyone's taste. 

A green beech hedge.

A great choice in an exposed situation is the evergreen Elaeagnus x ebbingeii which will reach a height of between three and four metres but can easily be maintained at one or one-and-a-half metres. 

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