Fast-Growing Shrubs

If you are looking for immediate privacy, but also wish to have a more interesting view than a fence, instant hedging may be a good option. However, with a little bit of patience, planting fast-growing shrubs in your garden may be a more rewarding option. Fast-growing plants are also less expensive than instant hedges, as they have spent less time in the nursery. Some hedge plants grow so fast that your garden will be surrounded by the more natural version of a garden wall within no more than two or three years. And even if you are not looking for an evergreen to ensure your privacy, you may want your deciduous hedge plants to grow to a decent height quickly as well.

Fast-Growing Evergreen Shrubs

Ivy is always an inexpensive evergreen hedging option, as it is a very fast-growing plant that can be trained to grow up a fence and be used as an exceptionally narrow hedge. But even if you like evergreen hedge plants with a more shrub-like appearance, there are plenty of suitable plants available. The larger cherry laurel cultivars, such as the disease-resistant ‘Novita’, the relatively narrow ‘Genolia’® and the highly popular ‘Rotundifolia’, can reach an average annual growth rate of up to 60 centimetres per year and will therefore not need a lot of time to reach their desired height. The oleaster and the broadleaf grow slightly slower than that, but will still make a decent tall hedge within a respectable amount of time.

Fast-Growing Trees for Hedging

Most people associate a fast growth habit with tall trees, however. The Leyland cypress, for instance; a conifer of which even the slowest-growing varieties grow 50 to 80 centimetres taller every year. Most other conifers grow significantly slower, but do have a bit of a growth spurt as saplings, which means they will be tall enough to function as a privacy hedge quickly, but are not as demanding as the leylandii in terms of maintenance. The Lawson cypress and various thuja varieties are such trees. There are also deciduous hedging trees that can be considered fast growers. The common beech and the copper beech are two of those varieties, as their annual growth rate can be as high as 60 centimetres. As a bonus, their leaves will change colour, but they will usually not fall off, making them great for privacy hedging.

Fast-Growing Hedges

Fast-growing shrubs and trees are really the ideal hedge plants if you are looking for fast results. The downside may be that they generally require more frequent pruning than species and cultivars with a slower growth rate, but none of the aforementioned species are particularly difficult to maintain. We hope to help you find the perfect fast-growing hedge for your garden.