Why screening matters more in a small garden

An overlooked courtyard or a narrow back garden has proportionally far more boundary than a large plot, so every metre given over to a hedge is a metre you feel. The trick is not to plant the biggest, fastest screen you can find, but to choose something that gives you the height and density you need while staying narrow, tidy and in scale with the space. Get that balance right and a hedge stops being a barrier and starts feeling like the walls of an outdoor room.

Evergreen or deciduous? Weighing up the trade-offs

Evergreens give you privacy twelve months of the year, which matters most in small gardens where a neighbour's window is only a few metres away. The price is slower establishment, denser shade beneath and a tendency to look heavy against a small plot.

Deciduous hedging is usually cheaper, establishes faster and feels lighter, but most of it is bare from November to April. Two notable exceptions are hornbeam and beech, both of which hold their dead brown leaves through winter (a habit called marcescence) and only shed them as new growth pushes through in spring.

• Evergreen: year-round cover, slower to establish, casts more shade, generally needs at least one annual cut.
• Deciduous: cheaper, quicker, lighter in feel, bare in midwinter — unless you choose hornbeam or beech.

Plants that earn their space on a tight boundary

For a neat, long-lived evergreen hedge, yew (Taxus baccata) is hard to beat. It grows roughly 15–30cm a year, tolerates deep shade and most soils, clips beautifully into crisp lines and needs only a single trim in late summer. It is poisonous to livestock and pets if eaten, so bear that in mind.

Privet is the workhorse of British suburban gardens: cheap, tolerant of shade and pollution, and quick — expect 30–60cm a year — though it needs two cuts a season to stay smart. Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus 'Rotundifolia') is similar in speed and loves shade, but its large leaves must be trimmed with secateurs or the cut edges brown.

Photinia 'Red Robin' brings brilliant red new growth and makes a loose, informal screen in sun, while griselinia and escallonia are excellent in coastal gardens. For a narrow border, clump-forming Fargesia bamboos give an airy screen at 1.5–2.5m without the invasive running habit of other bamboos.

• Deep shade: yew, cherry laurel, privet, hornbeam.
• Sun and dry soil: photinia, escallonia, ceanothus, rosemary for a low informal hedge.
• Maximum height, minimum width: pleached hornbeam or lime on clear stems, which lift the canopy above head height so light still reaches the ground.

Match the plant to the light you actually have

Before you order anything, spend a day watching your boundary. A north-facing fence line in a narrow garden is a very different proposition from a sunny south wall, and planting a sun-lover in shade is the most common reason new hedges fail.

Shady boundaries suit yew, box alternatives such as Ilex crenata, laurel and hornbeam, with ferns and epimediums underneath. Sunny, free-draining spots open up lavender, rosemary, ceanothus and photinia. If your garden is exposed and coastal, salt-tolerant griselinia and escallonia will shrug off the wind where others sulk.

Planting and spacing: getting it right first time

Bare-root hedging is far cheaper and goes in between November and March while plants are dormant. Pot-grown plants can be planted at any time of year if you water them diligently through the first summer.

For a dense hedge, space bare-root plants of 60–80cm at three to five per metre, depending on how quickly you want it to knit together. Prepare a trench roughly twice the width of the root ball, fork in plenty of organic matter, and water thoroughly even if rain is forecast. If you are planting near a fence or wall, leave 45–60cm of clearance so air can circulate and you can still get behind the hedge to paint or repair.

Keeping it manageable long-term

The single biggest mistake with small-garden screening is choosing something that grows faster than you want to cut it. Leylandii is the classic offender; it will swallow a small garden inside a decade and cannot be cut back into old wood.

• Yew and box: one cut in late summer is usually enough.
• Privet and laurel: two cuts, in late spring and late summer.
• Beech and hornbeam: cut in August for crisp lines and to hold winter leaves.

Always check for nesting birds before trimming — it is an offence to disturb an active nest — and avoid cutting in hard frost or during drought. Feed and mulch in spring, water new hedges generously for the first two summers, and a well-chosen screen will reward you with decades of quiet, green seclusion.