For the coastal gardener looking for low hedges and/or edging, varieties of four of the most popular choices will be perfectly at home…
Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’
This variegated dwarf evergreen spreads while maintaining its compact shape. Its subtle bright green foliage has complimentary and contrasting irregular golden yellow margins that assume a warm and welcome pink tinge in winter. Requiring nothing other than good drainage, a little sun and an annual trim in late spring, it will grow happily in just about any soil. ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’ offers the coastal gardener maximum versatility, working as ground cover, a low lying hedge or edging for borders and pathways. It also works well in a smaller container.
Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ AGM
No garden should be without Lavender and if yours is on the coast, then you can plant with confidence. Hidcote, though, is perhaps the variety to go for. This compact, hardy cultivar has beautifully scented dark purple flowers in summer and only requires sun and good drainage to give of its best. It will thrive in any type of soil.
Dwarf Box Hedge (Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’)
Dwarf Box is the hardy, plant-anywhere low-growing hedge par excellence. Its bright green foliage and delicate, pale yellow spring flowers grows slowly, making it easy to maintain and shape. Any coastal gardener with designs on adding a French-style parterre, this is the plant!
Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Miss Jessopp’s Upright AGM
Rosemary is one the most recognisable and popular of all the herbal shrubs and Miss Jessopp’s Upright is one of the best and one of the few Rosemary varieties to have been awarded the RHS’s Award of Garden Merit. It keeps its compact shape and upright bearing with minimum attention and its foliage is highly decorative with dark green leaves displaying a whitish underside enhanced by delicate pale blue flowers in spring and summer. And it is unsurpassed in the kitchen. Miss Jessopp is not fussy – a spot in full sun, sheltered from wind and with good drainage is all she requires. Plant it to create a low border or hedge; as ground cover or as a specimen plant in a border, raised bed or container. In fact, anything you can do with Lavender, you can do with Rosemary…
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