Evergreen Hedges for Privacy and Screening

You can see straight into the kitchen from next door's bedroom window. The neighbour's children watch you in the garden every weekend. The new house at the back of the plot looks straight down the lawn. Privacy is the single most common reason people plant a hedge, and it is also where the wrong species causes the most lasting trouble. The right evergreen hedge gives you what you wanted within a few seasons. The wrong one creates a maintenance problem that lasts decades.

Here is the honest comparison of the best evergreen hedges for privacy in UK gardens — what each one looks like, how fast it grows, and what it will ask of you in five and ten years' time.

What "privacy" actually requires

A genuine privacy hedge needs to be evergreen (so the screen is there twelve months of the year), dense (so the eye cannot see through it even in winter when light is low), and tall enough to break the sight line from the position you want to screen. For most overlooking issues, that means a hedge of at least 1.8m, and often 2.5m or more.

Before choosing a species, stand in the position you want to feel private — the kitchen window, the seating area, the bedroom — and have someone hold a long pole at the boundary while you eyeball the height needed to block the view. Most people get this measurement wrong and underestimate by 30cm to 60cm.

The best evergreen options compared

Taxus baccata (English yew)

Dense dark green needles. Grows 20cm to 30cm a year. The most formal-looking and longest-lived hedge in the list. Needs one annual clip and very little else. Best in clay or loam, in sun or shade. The benchmark choice if you can wait the extra year or two it takes to reach screening height.

Prunus lusitanica (Portuguese laurel)

Glossy dark green oval leaves on red-tinged stems. Grows 30cm to 45cm a year. Looks more refined than cherry laurel and clips to a crisper line. Tolerates clay, partial shade and coastal positions. The best balance of speed and quality for privacy screening.

Photinia x fraseri 'Red Robin'

Bright red new growth contrasting with glossy dark green mature leaves. Grows 30cm a year. Needs full sun for the red colour. Modern, contemporary look. Less dense than yew or laurel at the base, so works best in pairs of rows for serious privacy.

Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens' (Western red cedar)

Bright green scale-like foliage on a fast upright frame. Grows 40cm to 60cm a year. Faster than yew and Portuguese laurel without becoming the maintenance nightmare leylandii is. Holds a dense screen down to the ground for decades. The under-recognised privacy hedge.

Griselinia littoralis

Apple-green glossy leaves on a vigorous frame. Grows 30cm to 45cm a year. The classic coastal privacy hedge — tolerates salt-laden wind better than any other listed species. Less hardy inland in the coldest counties. Modern lighter green colour that suits contemporary settings.

Prunus laurocerasus (cherry laurel)

Large glossy mid-green leaves. Grows 45cm to 60cm a year. Faster and cheaper than Portuguese laurel but coarser-looking. The large leaves tear when clipped with a hedgetrimmer rather than secateurs. Honest middle-ground option but Portuguese laurel is a noticeably better-looking hedge for slightly more outlay.

Picking between them

For maximum formality and lifetime cost-effectiveness, yew. For the best balance of speed and quality, Portuguese laurel. For a contemporary look with red new growth, Photinia. For genuinely fast establishment without leylandii regrets, Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens'. For coastal positions, Griselinia. Once the species is chosen, buy as tall as the budget allows — every 30cm of starting height saves roughly a year of waiting.

One last practical point on planting density. Most privacy issues come from impatience as much as plant choice. Spacing plants at three per metre in a single row rather than two per metre cuts the time to a continuous screen by about a year, at the cost of slightly more plants up front. For boundaries where privacy matters most, this is almost always worth it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best hedge for privacy?

For most UK gardens, Portuguese laurel (Prunus lusitanica) is the best balance of speed, density, refinement and long-term maintenance. Yew is the highest-quality alternative if you can wait a year or two longer for it to reach screening height. Thuja plicata 'Atrovirens' is the fastest of the responsibly-chosen evergreen hedges and a good answer where genuine speed matters. Avoid Leylandii regardless of how attractive the growth rate looks on paper.

Which evergreen hedge is best for screening?

For density and longevity, yew. For speed without regret, Portuguese laurel or Thuja plicata. For contemporary settings, Photinia 'Red Robin'. For coastal positions, Griselinia littoralis. The right answer depends on how much you can wait, the soil and aspect you have, and the look you want. All five give a dense year-round screen within five years of planting.

How tall should a privacy hedge be?

It depends on what you are screening. For blocking the sight line from a neighbouring ground-floor window, 1.8m is usually enough. For first-floor overlooking, 2.5m to 3m. For complete privacy in a small garden, 1.8m to 2.2m typically does the job. Measure from the position you want to feel private, not from the hedge line itself. Most people underestimate by 30cm to 60cm.

A well-chosen evergreen hedge gives privacy that lasts decades. Explore our Border by the Metre collection for hedging supplied at planting size. Delivered free to your door.

Not sure which hedge suits your boundary and aspect? Book a consultation and we'll help you choose the right species and starting size.