As well as having a practical importance for dividing or bordering the garden, plant screens and hedges provide attractive backgrounds and form decorative living barriers. For example, seats, statues and urns look effective set in an alcove in a well-clipped hedge, whilst pale foliage or white flowers are offset particularly well against the dark green of a dense yew (Taxus baccata) or cypress (Cupressus) hedge.

Evergreen hedges make excellent backgrounds for shrub and herbaceous borders, and for showing off specimen plants. Density of growth is particularly important if the hedge is intended primarily as a background foil for an ornamental feature. Flowering or berrying shrubs such as roses or pyracanthas, may also be used, especially in informal gardens, to provide a visual division or boundary, although growth is usually less dense than in a traditional hedge.

Hedges may take several years to become established and require more maintenance than fences or walls, but the interest they provide in terms of colour, texture and shape is invaluable. Many are also long-lived and so are often more permanent features than fences. However, you will need to bear in mind that some hedging plants have very fibrous, spreading roots and may compete for nutrients and moisture with nearby plants.

Our garden features section has a whole range of information on planting, trimming and renovating a hedge.