Shrubs
While many shrubs are suitable for formal clipping and shearing, those listed here are ther most popular choices. Most are available in various sizes, and some offer both deciduous and evergreen forms. The plants described below are evergreen unless otherwise noted.
English yew (Taxus baccata) is the classic choice for a formal hedge: it's the conifer you see bordering garden beds on palace grounds, forming mazes, and trimmed into fanciful topiary. It succeeds in Zones 3-9,14-24, 32, 33, and the warmest parts of 34; it's not suitable for very cold or very hot regions. As its uses make plain, it easily tolerates frequent shearing and pruning. It grows slowly, so you'll need to be patient if your goal is to replicate the hedges you've seen in famous English gardens.
Leyland cypress (Cupressocyparis leylandii) is an excellent choice for gardeners who want the lush look of a neatly pruned conifer but don't want to wait for a yew hedge to grow. It's suited to Zones 3-24, 26, 28-34, 39. In 5 years, it will reach 15 to 20 feet high — and because it isn't bothered by strong winds, the hedge can double as a windbreak. To keep it manageable, prune it moderately to severely on a regular basis.
Japanese or wax-leaf privet (Ligustrum japonicum), successful in Zones 4-31 and the warmer parts of 32, is another alternative to English yew. You might try this one if you want a faster-growing evergreen than yew or live in a warm-winter climate where yew won't thrive. Like yew, Japanese privet can be clipped as a formal hedge or into forms such as globes and pyramids. Leaves are 2- to 4-inch ovals, but new growth rapidly covers cuts made by shearing. Japanese privet's normal height is 10 to 12 feet, but you can prune it lower or choose lower-growing cultivars.
Common privet (Ligustrum vulgare), suitable for Zones 2-24, 30-41, is another popular hedge privet. It's deciduous; the 1- to 3-inch leaves turn from dark green to purplish green before falling in autumn. If left unpruned, it reaches 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide. A more compact form is L. vulgare 'Lodense' ('Nanum'), a dense-growing dwarf to just 4 feet high and wide.
Common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), adapted to Zones 3-6, 15-17, 31-34, 39, is a classic hedge shrub. It can reach 15 feet high and wide, but you'll usually see it pruned smaller. When lightly pruned, bushes spill and mound over each other; clipped into boxy, straight-edged geometrical shapes, they line pathways and define the edges of formal plantings. The matte green, oval leaves are just 1 inch long; the small size makes the plant a good candidate for shearing, since cut marks are inconspicuous. Common boxwood cannot tolerate alkaline soils or hot summers.
Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla japonica) is a popular alternative to common boxwood; it grows in Zones 3-24, 26-34, 39. It does fine in alkaline soils and hot weather, but looks shabby during winter in the colder parts of its range. It's similar in leaf size and plant shape to common boxwood but much smaller overall, slowly growing to 3 to 6 feet tall and wide. It has shiny (rather than matte), yellowish green leaves.
Common myrtle (Myrtus communis) is suited to Zones 8-24, 26-28. It naturally forms a rounded shrub (to 5 to 6 feet tall) but also takes well to formal clipping. It has small, pointed leaves and fragrant white spring or summer flowers. 'Compacta' has even smaller leaves and reaches just 2 to 3 feet high, making it a good choice for an edging or a low formal hedge. In general, myrtles grow wider than they're high.
Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) is an alternative to myrtle or boxwood for colder zones; it flourishes in Zones 2-9, 14-24, 28, 31-35, 37. It looks more like boxwood than holly, with small, oval leaves and a naturally mounding habit. Many cultivars are available, differing mainly in size; those most commonly used for hedges reach 3 to 4 feet high and wide. When you prune Japanese holly, it's best to make individual cuts with hand-held pruners rather than shearing the plant.
