Hedging for Exposed Sites Guide

Without any natural defence, gardens in exposed sites are frequently subjected to strong winds. This can effect developing plants as it can impede plant growth by severely stunting trees and shrubs, whilst preventing young seedlings from establishing. Not only does planting in exposed sites leave your plants vulnerable to high mph winds, it makes soil conditions more difficult as it is dried out by the extreme gales, waterlogged by heavy rain and frozen by cold temperatures.

Wind is one of the gardener's worst enemies, and in exposed sites, they experience the full brunt of its force. Reducing the amount of wind from entering an exposed site is vital for your plants survival and the most effective way to do so is with a wind breaking hedge. Hedging acts as a filter as wind weakens while passing through a dense structure and thick foliage. For exposed windy gardens, hedging should always be a priority option as a garden border. Solid barricades such as walls or fences will deflect the battering wind upwards and over, descending with forceful turbulence on the leeward side, damaging any plants within its reach.

Large evergreen hedging plants. such as Cherry Laurel, Privet - Green or the conifers Leylandii and Yew, make fantastic wind breaking hedges that display dense, attractive, green foliage providing year round cover. Tall deciduous trees such as Hawthorn knowingly lose their leaves in Winter, but the intricate structure of twigs and branches is capable of refining strong winds, still producing an effective windbreak throughout the frosty season.

The types of winds and conditions exposed gardens are vulnerable to is determined by location and it is important to choose plants that will thrive in these difficult settings.

Exposed coastal gardens experience winds highly rich in salt which causes severe leaf burn and defoliation of certain plants. Remember, you don't have to be positioned right on the beach to be affected, as salt laden air can travel up to six miles inland. Add torrential rain, extreme gales, shallow and dry soils, heightened temperatures and rocky surfaces, and exposed coastal sites prove a tricky area for a garden to flourish. We supply a variety of hedging plants perfect for exposed coastal sites as they can tolerate the salty winds and difficult growing sites. The selection we stock offer wonderful colours, shapes and textures to suit your every gardening need.

Our best hedging plants for exposed coastal sites include:

Escallonia, Griselinia, Oleaster, Euonymus japonicus 'Jean Hugues', Gorse.

Other plants suited to less extreme coastal sites:

Berberis hedging, Blackthorn, Cotoneaster franchetii, Cotoneaster lacteus, Dog Rose, Elder, Field Maple, Flowering Currant, Hawthorn, Holly English, Holly Silver, Laurel - Bay, Laurel - Spotted, Lavender - Hidcote,Leylandii - Golden, Leylandii - Green, Lonicera nitida, Lonicera pileata, Mexican Orange Blossom, Potentilla Pink, Potentilla Yellow, Potentilla White Potentilla Orange, Privet , Rosemary, Rowan or Mountain Ash, Viburnum tinus, Willow.

Here are our best hedging plants for exposed inland sites:

Hawthorn, Leylandii - Green, Field Maple, Cotoneaster franchetii, English Yew.

Exposed inland gardens experience colder winters than exposed coastal sites so it is important to develop hardy plants that can withstand the strong winds and cold temperatures unaided. The RHS has devised a system of ratings to enable you to identify the hardiness of your chosen garden plants and their likelihood of survival in relation to your growing location.

Don't let the hindering conditions of exposed sites keep you from achieving the garden of your dreams. A wind tolerant garden border in either exposed coastal or exposed inland sites can change the microclimate of a garden, allowing you to include a range of exotic plants in your exposed garden design, as the protection and shelter created by a wind tolerant hedge allows you to include plants that would not thrive in exposed sites.

All of the hedging species you find in this section are suited to growing in exposed coastal and exposed inland sites. The range includes climbing plants for exposed inland and coastal such as the colourful Pyracantha; evergreen plants for exposed coastal and inland, including Griselinia littoralis and Holly, along with colourful flowering and foliage plants such as the bright yellow flowers displayed by Mexican Orange Blossom or the variegated yellow and green foliage of Spotted Laurel and Euonymus japonicus 'Jean Hugues'.