[Keith g]

Hi all , wondering on some advice. I currently have a large fence which is now very unsteady from stormy winter weather. I was thinking of replacing it with a hebe hedge. I currently have 30 good sized (1 foot high) hebe 'mid summer beauty' cuttings. It is fantastic for its purple large 6 inch long flowers and attractive to both bees & butterflies.

It does grow fast but I am concerned about how it has an awful tendency to get very 'leggy' with large parts of its centre being very open, with growth only at the top over time.

Do you think this would be a good idea? The parent plant can easily grow to 6ft high

Thanks,
K

[kindredspirit]

Never tried a Hebe hedge.

I would imagine if it was regularly trimmed then it would probably grow quite densely. The downside would be that there would probably be no flowers with trimming (but I've no practical experience of it.)

[Sue Deacon]

I'm sure there are folks out there that have ancient hebes in their gardens. But my limited experience of them is of a plant that has a few, glorious years before becoming a tatty monster with a bald centre. A lovely individual plant for a garden, but not the best hedging material.