Hydrangea hedge

." I’m thinking hops growing on the fence for parts of that. Thanks to another one of veggies bright ideas Cool."

"Ale of Mull" brewery??

It’ll be Bradan cottage. Unofficially it’ll be the Bradan inn   .
With the best beer & beer garden ever

What do you want the hedge for?

I have a buddleia hedge and I love it. I only put it in to help obscure the paddock from the drive and the drive from the footpath which works great for summer and not a lot in winter, but then people don't tend to be about anyway. It is made from salvaged seedlings out off the drive and a few cuttings (so cheap is great) and has been in place about 8 years. It is hardy (the white don't tend to bulk up so well) and then you hack it all back as hard as you like, although they do produce a lot of waste material to get rid off. Mine smells great in the summer and there are that many butterflies that they often set the doorbell off. I am trying to introduce the odd lilac into it now just to add something else/ more interest. Unfortunately I have looked through pics and can't find any for when it is at its best. I am happy to post a pic of it now so you can see it at its worst before I hack it back for summer.

Well obviously we want to see photos   . Even at its worst, yes please.
2 hedges are for screening from nosy tourists. 2 are to set boundaries for the cottage garden area and to keep the dogs out of it.

Yes - agree.
Haven’t dead headed mine yet - leaving it a few more weeks. Still a chance of frosts here and I couldn’t bear to lose a summer’s worth of blossoms.

I had buddleia at the old house whether I liked it or not. And I did not like it. I really hated it. It was a lilac but common, scruffy, straggly looking buddleia that grows in anything and causes a lot of damage with their roots. The more refined types of buddleia might be less destructive and nicer to look at.

I love the idea of edible hedges - could you extend your thoughts around the currant bushes to include gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries too? That is such an awesome idea. I have all of those types, but no space to have a full hedge of them.
Happy to send cuttings once mine have grown enough!

^^^ Raspberries and blackberries aren't as good in an edible hedge as the currants, gooseberries and other bushes that stay where they're planted. Raspberries wander and blackberries sprawl unless you have a fence or summat to train them on.
I don't have a planned edible hedge - just bunged in cuttings alongside the fence.

Escallonia? Bees love the flowers.

I've just dug up my gooseberry hedge...sick
Of pigeons eating all the berries.

My blackcurrant hedge is fabulous in the summer...doesn't screen much as I do take out a fair few stems. One has died, but I've got varieties that fruit at different times.

I've got a mixed native hedge. Love it for the screening, I've not pruned it correctly really as last year I used it for cut flowers....but it's fabulous for the wildlife it brings.

I can't grow hydrangeas here - my ground is too dry, they just droop in the heat.

I would love a rose hedge....

Escallonia? Bees love the flowers.

After googling. I really like that. Evergreen as a bonus. Brilliant. Does it grow well from seed? I don’t know that I have access to cuttings. But it’s definitely going on my hedge list & stand alone shrub list. Thank you.