10 award-winning (AGM) plants for a flowering hedge

Some of the most effective hedges you’ll see are neatly-clipped evergreens with never a flower on show. But if you’re looking for something a little less formal, whether as a garden divider, a screen or a boundary, consider planting an informal flowering hedge.

Evergreen or deciduous, low and neat, taller and tangled – flowering hedges can create colour themes, provide shelter and nest sites for birds and perhaps even follow the flowers with colourful berries.

Also, they don’t need clipping as much as privet and conifer hedges do – with too much trimming, all the flowering shoots are likely to end up on the ground. Clip them using shears or power clippers, but it’s important to get the timing right to ensure the best display. Generally, this is immediately after flowering.

The plants of this selection are all winners of the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Fragrant flowers and aromatic foliage

Mexican orange blossom (Choisya) makes lovely informal hedges that rarely need pruning. With aromatic, evergreen leaves and fragrant flowers in spring, summer and sometimes autumn too, they’re essential garden shrubs. Choisya ternata is an old favourite, with its glossy foliage forming a dense barrier where birds love to hide between trips to the feeder. It grows to around 2m (6½ft) but can easily be kept shorter.

Choisya ternata is a valuable garden mainstay for a protected site in sun or part shade, although in shade it may not flower

This dome-shaped shrub is ideal for a mixed or shrub border in light shade, where the leaves become a more subtle yellow-green

Choisya x dewitteana ‘Aztec Pearl’ is ideal for the back or middle of a mixed border and it’s a more compact alternative to Choisya ternata

There’s also a dazzling yellow-leaved form, Choisya ternata Sundance (‘Lich’), which is one of our most colourful shrubs but a hedge of it needs careful placing – the new spring foliage is just so bright! A number of hybrids have appeared in recent years, including Choisya x dewitteana ‘Aztec Pearl’ (height 1.5m / 5ft). Thanks to its slender foliage, which creates a gentler effect, this is a softer presence than C. ternata. Pink-tinted

A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that contains the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flowers.

Colourful wildlife boundary

Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’ has light red flowers which appear in spring, followed by orange-red berries in autumn

Hawthorn is one of the most valuable wildlife trees, but for a garden hedge, Crataegus laevigata ‘Paul’s Scarlet’ is a definite step up from the wild type. Clusters of pinkish-red

A type of flower that has extra petals, often having a fuller appearance. Plants with double flowers are often considered more ornamental and showy than those with single flowers, though they are generally not as good for wildlife, having little or no pollen. Some plants naturally produce double flowers, while others may be bred for this trait. Examples of plants with double flowers include roses, sunflowers, dahlias, and zinnias.

Summer and autumn flowers

 In frost-free areas this upright, hardy fuchsia makes a lovely, long-flowering, informal hedge

One of the hardiest of all fuchsias, the dainty scarlet and purple flowers of Fuchsia ‘Riccartonii’ line the branches for months, followed by purplish red – almost black – berries. It makes one of the most picturesque of all garden hedges. ‘Riccartonii’ stems may die back to ground level during cold winters, otherwise prune in spring as growth begins. Height 1-1.5m (3-5ft). Hardiness rating H6.

Aromatic lavender

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ creates a neat, mounded form perfect for traditional and contemporary garden designs

A low lavender hedge makes an ideal divider or edging for herb and vegetable gardens, as well as for country-style flower gardens. Some varieties work better as hedging than others and the naturally compact Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’, with its grey-green foliage and unusually deeply-coloured lavender summer flowers, is one of the best. Cut back by a third after the main flush of flowers. Height 45-60cm (18-24in). Hardiness rating H5.

Unusual flowering evergreen

Olearia x scilloniensis ‘Master Michael’ has daisy-like, purple flowers with yellow centres that appear in profuse clusters in late spring

Olearias come from Australia and New Zealand and should be better known here. Drought tolerant once established, the evergreen greyish foliage of Olearia x scilloniensis ‘Master Michael’ is attractive all year round, but in May the plant is covered in pretty blue daisies. It’s a little like a very classy, shrubby, spring-flowering Michaelmas daisy. Clip after flowering. Height 1-2m (3-6½ft). Hardiness rating H4.

Flowers from spring to autumn

Potentilla fruticosa ‘Jackman’s Variety’ is an upright deciduous shrub with small pinnate grey-green leaves and light yellow flowers

Opening its first golden blooms in May and the last ones in September, Potentilla fruticosa ‘Jackman’s Variety’ flowers over an unusually long period. Set against prettily-divided leaves and on particularly upright plants (for a potentilla, anyway), ‘Jackman’s Variety’ is an old favourite that makes an ideal path-side hedge. Height 1.5m (5ft). Hardiness rating H7.

White blooms, dark fruits

Prunus lusitanica has small, fragrant white flowers in early summer followed by dark purple fruits

Prunus lusitanica is a lovely large, evergreen shrub that has dark green leaves with red stalks. Small white, slightly fragrant flowers are borne on long racemes in early summer, and often followed by small, red fruits which eventually turn dark purple (these are harmful if eaten). Portuguese laurel is an excellent hedging plant and it can even tolerate chalky soils. Height to 15m (49ft). Hardiness rating H5.

Flowers and fragrance

Upright and arching in habit, Rosa ‘Charles de Mills’ performs best in fertile, moist, but well-drained soil in full sun

Many roses make lovely informal hedges, but its combination of rich purple-crimson flower colour, powerful fragrance and general resilience makes Rosa ‘Charles de Mills’ a top choice. It flowers for a long season in June and July and has the great benefit of being almost completely thornless. Prune by removing the oldest branches near the base each winter. Height 1.5m (5ft). Hardiness rating H6.