Multi-functionality, wildlife-friendliness and a natural look and feel: all trends we’ve continued to see throughout the year. But there’s one trend that continues to play an important role in the development of the sector: the low-maintenance garden. 

 

The low-maintenance garden trend 

Even though there are enough gardeners that don’t mind getting their hands dirty, there’s also a vast majority that prefers to have a beautiful, natural-looking garden without having too much maintenance. They prefer plants that don’t need regular watering, shrubs and hedges that hardly need any pruning and so basically a garden that looks beautiful all-year through, without having to spend too much time into getting it to look so. 

 

For many, hedging plants are the answer to all these needs. 

 

Hedges for the low-maintenance garden 

Hedges are about as multifunctional as it gets. They provide year-round shelter for garden wildlife, at times provide flowers and berries, serves as a boundary, keeps unwanted views (and visitors) away and can even help to block out noise. But for many, the biggest downside of hedges is the maintenance they require. Without any pruning, they’ll overgrow before you know it. 

 

So what kind of elegant, evergreen hedges are suited for the low-maintenance garden? 

 

1. Taxus 

Starting off with Taxus: one of the most known and used hedging plants. They boast stunning, dar-green foliage that’s easy to trim and maintain, and don’t grow too fast. There are Taxus that require some maintenance, and Taxus that hardly require any, such as Taxus Rising Star. Rising Star has dense and uniform growth and the perfect shape: so doesn’t require any pruning. And then there are Taxus with a somewhat wild and exotic appearance, yet still needing very little maintenance. Elegant-looking Taxus such as Taxus Eleganza and Taxus Exotica have very fine needles and a uniform, bushy, ascending growth. Meaning they don’t require as much pruning as most hedging plants do. Making them perfectly suited for shaping formal displays - without the extra maintenance.

 

2. Viburnum tinus 

From Taxus straight on to Viburnum tinus: an evergreen, flowering hedging plant happy in both full sun or shade. With the masses of flowers that appear from early winter until late spring, it can form a beautiful garden hedge. Viburnum Spirit® has an even longer flowering period, starting as early as autumn, with beautiful dark purple berries and flowers. Making Spirit® visually attractive (and thus sellable) for a much longer period. Viburnum tinus has a medium growth rate, which means it requires less maintenance - but you’ll also have to wait a few years until it forms a magnificent hedge. 

 

3. Ilex crenata 

The English Holly can grow up to 30 cm a year under ideal conditions, is very hardy, evergreen and shows off with glossy green leaves. Ilex are beautiful, but also very easy to maintain due to their slower growth rate. And the best thing: if you do decide to take the garden tools out, Ilex clips very well to create a dense hedge. Ilex crenata such as Strong Caroline (the name says it all!) and LUXUS® Globe are easy to prune, easy to maintain and have an incredibly strong root system: ready to take a beating.

 

4. Thuja 

There may be many other fantastic-looking, low-maintenance hedging plants, but we’ve decided to end the list with Thuja. Thuja is a slow-growing hedging plant, growing about 30 cm a year, making it very low-maintenance. Thuja such as Sunny Smaragd and Totem Smaragd have a neat and tidy appearance, meaning they’ll look beautiful even if you leave them to grow wild. They’re evergreen, brightly coloured, tough, hardy and usually available in sizes up to 2 m! Thuja Totem Smaragd actually keeps its neat oval-ascending form, making it one of the best hedging plants if you don’t feel like pruning or trimming.