Osmanthus Instant Hedge growing on our nursery ideal hedge for small gardens.
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Instant Hedge In Focus: Hedges for Small Gardens /in , , /by

Choosing the Perfect Hedge for Your Small Garden

In the world of gardening, hedges are the unsung heroes of landscape design, offering a blend of functionality and beauty. For those with smaller gardens, selecting the right hedge can be challenging but fortunately, there are several species of our Practical Instant Hedge™ that could be the perfect choice for your small garden.  Whether its the classic charm of Holly, the sweet fragrance of Osmanthus, or the timeless Yew.

Our pre-formed, top-quality Practical Instant Hedge™ range is produced in specially designed hedging bags and supplied in pieces that are 1m long by 40 – 50cm deep. When replanted into your garden, these evergreen instant hedges will give instant maturity, and require minimal maintenance.

Osmanthus Instant Hedge

Holly

Holly, with its glossy, spiky leaves and vibrant red berries, adds a touch of traditional charm to any garden. Their dense growth habit creates a natural privacy screen, and the presence of both male and female plants ensures the iconic bright berries during the winter months. Practical Instant Hedge™ is available as English Holly (Ilex aquifolium) and Blue Holly (Ilex meserveae). Both hedges are relatively low maintenance, requiring only occasional pruning to maintain their shape and density.  It’s also very hardy, resistant to pests and diseases, and can tolerate a variety of soil conditions.

Osmanthus

Osmanthus hedges are our favourite choice for fragrance. Known for their small, white flowers that bloom in late winter or early spring, Osmanthus hedges infuse the garden with a sweet, apricot-like aroma. Practical Instant Hedge™ (Osmanthus burkwoodii) is a compact evergreen, making them well-suited for small spaces. These hedges require moderate pruning to maintain their shape and promote bushier growth with more flowers the following season. Their versatility extends to both sunny and partially shaded locations.

Yew

Yew hedges have adorned gardens for centuries, standing as a symbol of enduring beauty. Known for their dark green, needle-like foliage, Yews provide an evergreen backdrop throughout the seasons. Their slow growth rate makes them ideal for small gardens, allowing for easy maintenance and shaping. Beyond their aesthetic appeal, Yews also have a remarkable tolerance for different soil conditions and are shade-tolerant, making them a versatile choice for various garden settings. Practical Instant Yew Hedging is available in various heights.

In the world of small gardens, the right hedge can transform a confined space into a verdant sanctuary. They are easy to manage and enhance any environment with their natural charm; whether you opt for the enduring elegance of Yew, the traditional charm of Holly, or the fragrant blooms of Osmanthus, each species brings its unique character to your outdoor space.

Osmanthus Instant Hedge

Osmanthus

Blue Holly Instant Hedge

Blue Holly

Holly leaf and berry

English Holly

Yew Instant Hedge

Yew

 

How to order Practical Instant Hedge™

If you like to find out more about our comprehensive range of evergreen and deciduous Practical Instant Hedges, you can:

  • Book a visit to our nursery in Iver, Buckingham to view our hedges and trees
  • Call 01753 652022 to speak to our horticultural team
  • Email hedge@pracbrown.co.uk with your requirements (such as hedge length and size, species, and your location) and we can provide you with a bespoke quote.
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Instant Hedge In Focus: New Hedges /in , , /by

New Practical Instant Hedge™ ranges

We are proud to introduce two new evergreens to our Practical Instant Hedge™ range:

  • Ilex meserveae Blue Maid/ Prince or Blue Holly
  • Osmanthus burkwoodii or Burkwood osmanthus

Blue Holly

Ilex meserveae Blue Maid/ Prince has dense, lustrous, blue-green, spiny leaves from purple stems and tiny, white flowers are produced in spring. These cultivars are some of the best blue hollies available. Our Practical Instant Hedge™ has a mix of Blue Maid and Blue Prince to ensure the delightful profusion of bright red berries in autumn and winter. Late summer pruning will reveal dark purplish-green stems, which add to the ornamental effect.

 

 

Burkwood osmanthus

Osmanthus Instant Hedge growing in hedge bags in Iver

Burkwood osmanthus is a dense, slow-growing, evergreen. The glossy, finely toothed, dark green leaves beautifully offset by highly scented, jasmine like, white flowers in mid and late spring. If pruned after flowering, it will increase the blooms for the following year.

 

The addition of these attractive new instant hedges brings our range of evergreens to a dozen species, with 5 deciduous to complete our offering. There really is a Practical Instant Hedge™ for all gardens.

The Practical Instant Hedge™ Difference

  • Densely pre-planted and ready-grown to 30 – 40cm wide and up to 2m high, species dependent
  • British grown by us!
  • Grown in 1m long pieces and supplied specially designed hedge bags
  • Easy to handle and plant
  • Can be planted all year round
  • All stock is carefully maintained, irrigated, and treated with controlled release nutrients to optimise health
  • Available in any lengths, and can be bent to almost any shape
  • Supplied on standard 1m x 1.2m pallets
  • Prices vary according to species, height, quantity, and planting logistics
  • Available direct on a supply only or supply and plant basis throughout the UK by the metre
  • Recommended automatic irrigation systems can be installed at the same time as planting

How to order Practical Instant Hedge™

If you like to find out more about our comprehensive range of evergreen and deciduous Practical Instant Hedges, you can:

  • Book a visit to our nursery in Iver, Buckingham to view our hedges and trees
  • Call 01753 652022 to speak to our horticultural team
  • Email hedge@pracbrown.co.uk with your requirements (such as hedge length and size, species, and your location) and we can provide you with a quote within a few days.
  • Order online here.

Did you Know – We offer our Instant Hedge as both supply only, or supply and plant as well.

Beech instant hedges at Chatsworth
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Garden Flower Shows 2018 /in , , /by

Flower Shows 2018 focusing on Instant Hedges

June

Congratulations to everyone at the June Flower Shows, Practicality Brown proudly supplied instant hedges to:

  • The Brewin Dolphin Installation designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes won People’s Choice at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show
  • Inspiration in the Raw designed by Peter Cowell awarded Gold Medal at BBC Gardeners’ World Live

The Brewin Dolphin Installation

Inspired by a past landscape of the Chatsworth Estate, this conceptual garden echoes a ‘lost’ village that once stood in the shadow of Chatsworth House before being removed to make way for Capability Brown’s famous landscape. The planting references the indigenous landscape combining native plants with decorative varieties introduced in later years.

Sponsored by Brewin Dolphin, this garden affirmation from the public with The People’s Award for Installation at RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. We supplied Elveden Instant Beech Hedge for this garden.

Inspiration in the Raw

The garden focuses on using natural materials to create a more peaceful area to live in the garden. With an emphasis on recycling and reusing materials, this garden caters for a family, the garden is divided into sections by sliding barn doors. At the rear of the garden there is a dedicated play area with rope swing and playhouse, meanwhile, parents can entertain in the free-form concrete seating and dining area or relax in a quiet corner.

This garden was awarded a Gold Medal by the judges at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live. We supplied Practical Instant Native Mix Hedge for this garden.

July

At RHS Hampton Court, we are supported three out of the four Lifestyle Gardens, as well as a trade exhibit.

And Paul Richardson’s Garden Steel Sculptures – see blog here for more details

If you would like a garden inspired by Flower Shows please contact us on 01753 652022 to talk to our friendly Horticultural team.

Instant native hedge
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RHS Chelsea Flower Show – World Horse Welfare Garden /in , /by

World Horse Welfare Garden

Practicality Brown are proud to have supported Show and Artisan Gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 by supplying top quality large hedging plants to talented Garden Designers.

The World Horse Welfare Artisan Garden creates a moving story; designed by Woolcott Smith and built by Conway Landscapes, the garden celebrated the 90th  anniversary of World Horse Welfare charity and highlighted the plight of ‘invisible’ abandoned, neglected and abused horses in the UK and abroad.

Background

A traditional wildflower garden, it told the story of Clippy, a 12hh dapple grey pony who was rescued from terrible conditions.  The small, derelict stable surrounded by plants that are dangerous to horses, represents that actual place where he was found. Thankfully rescued by World Horse Welfare, Clippy’s journey concludes by him being re-homed and moving into an open and safe meadow surrounded with horse friendly plants including native mix hedging.

Central to the garden is a life-sized sculpture of Clippy, made from reclaimed horseshoes by Tom Hill Sculpture, standing upright and proud looking to a future filled with contentment and hope.  The sculpture has been made from horseshoes donated by nearly 40 famous equines; including Her Majesty The Queen’s Windsor grey horses and Olympic gold medallists Big Star and Valegro.

The real Clippy travelled to London on Monday to pose with the garden at the Chelsea Flower Show Press Day where he met celebrities including Kirstie Allsopp, Clare Balding, Charley Boorman, Sara Cox, Monty Don, Susan George, Peter Kay, Deborah Meaden, Rachel Riley, Victoria Pendleton, David Seaman and Nigel Slater.

Awards

This Artisan Garden was awarded a Gold medal by the RHS, making it four Gold medals for Adam Woolcott and Jonathan Smith and also won affirmation from the public with The People’s Award for Best Artisan Garden at Chelsea.

To find out more about World Horse Welfare and the RHS Chelsea Garden, click here

Practicality Brown are proud to have supplied native mix hedging plants for this award winning garden.

The BBC created a film about the garden and its designers, as part of their Chelsea flower show coverage, which can be seen here

Practical Instant Hedge for Woolcott Smith Chelsea

Chelsea 2017 World Horse Welfare native hedge

Chelsea 2017 World-Horse-Welfare Gold crop

Chelsea 2017 World Horse Welfare Gold

Clippy the inspiration for the garden

Chelsea 2017 World-Horse-Welfare clippy

Chelsea 2017 World Horse Welfare Garden

Chelsea 2017 World-Horse-Welfare

native mix Practical Instant Hedging

Native Mix Practical Instant Hedge – Chelsea 2017

Chelsea 2017 World Horse Welfare Garden

Chelsea 2017 World-Horse-Welfare Garden Peoples Choice winner

Chelsea 2017 GOLD
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Gold and Silver at Chelsea /in , /by

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 Awards

Congratulations to everyone at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017, particularly:

The Welcome to Yorkshire Show Garden designed by Tracy Foster awarded Silver Medal

The World Horse Welfare Artisan Garden designed by Adam Woolcott and Jonathan Smith awarded Gold Medal.

We are proud to have supplied our Native Mix hedging to both these gardens.

The Welcome to Yorkshire Show Garden
Chelsea 2017 Tracy Foster Native Hedges

Welcome to Yorkshire

The Welcome to Yorkshire garden is inspired by the Yorkshire coast, the drama of the county’s many historic buildings and Yorkshire’s special relationship with its agricultural heritage.  The garden featured a ruined abbey, chalk cliffs, a beach and the sea, with gently rolling waves lapping the shore. The trompe l’oeil painting within the ruin linked the coastal beauty to the farmland beyond. The stone used to build the ruin is sourced from a Yorkshire quarry, and the cliffs are created from material with the same geological composition as Flamborough Head. The natural–themed colourful wildflowers, grasses and shrubs in the garden are native to Yorkshire’s coastal area.

Sponsored by Welcome to Yorkshire, the garden’s aim is to highlight the beauty of Yorkshire and inspire people to experience the county for themselves.

This garden was awarded a Silver Medal by the RHS

The World Horse Welfare Artisan Garden
Woolcott Smith Chelsea native hedge

World Horse Welfare

The garden has been designed to celebrate the 90th anniversary of World Horse Welfare charity and aims to highlight the plight of ‘invisible’ abandoned, neglected and abused horses in the UK and abroad. The garden is a traditional wildflower garden that will tell the story of one of these ‘invisible’ horses. A derelict stable in one corner will be surrounded by plants harmful to horses, which open up into an open, bright and secure meadow, with horse friendly plants. It will feature a life-sized sculpture of a horse made from reclaimed horseshoes by Tom Hill.

This garden was awarded a Gold Medal by the RHS and also won affirmation from the public with The People’s Award for Best Artisan Garden at Chelsea.

If you would like a garden inspired by RHS Flowers Shows please contact us on 01753 652022 to talk to our friendly Horticultural team.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show
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Chelsea Flower Show Awards /in , , , /by

BBC RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017: People’s Choice Award

There are three People’ Choice awards that the public can vote for at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show:

  • Best Show Garden
  • Best Fresh Garden
  • Best Artisan Garden

Voting for Best Show Garden is via the www.bbc.co.uk/chelsea website only and voting is only open for one day, opening 21:00 Wednesday 24th May and closing at 21:30 on Thursday 25th May 2017.

This vote is for the best of the large 8 Show Gardens. These display the latest innovative designs and must-have plants, crafted with skill by highly-talented designers and their teams.  Each of these gardens feature on the BBC’s coverage of the RHS Chelsea Flower show. The winner will be announced during the BBC’s coverage on Friday 26th May 2017.

Voting for Best Fresh and Artisan Gardens is via theThe RHS Peoples’ Choice Award web page; voting is open now and closes on Friday 26th of May 2017.

Vote for the best of the 5 Fresh Gardens: Bold and daring, the Fresh category uses innovative materials and daring design to present and question concepts

Vote for the best of the 9 Artisan Gardens: The artisan category demonstrate traditional designs, materials and craft skills revitalised by contemporary approaches

The RHS medals have been awarded at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, and the next big honour is BBC/RHS Peoples’ Choice Award, which as its name suggests, is voted for by the public.

See the BBC’s Chelsea coverage to a review of the gardens or RHS’s Chelsea pages for more details on each of the gardens.

Practicality Brown is proud to have been able to supply our Native Mix hedging to two gardens this year:

Welcome to Yorkshire Show Garden

Welcome to Yorkshire Show Garden

World Horse Welfare Artisan Garden

World Horse Welfare Artisan Garden

Read more →

Native Mix Instant Hedging
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Native Mix Hedges /in , , , , /by

Garden Hedges

Hedges are aesthetically pleasing and add character to a property, whether they are an integral part of the design, or form a boundary fence.  We have a number of mature hedge options across a range species, both evergreen and deciduous, including the popular Native Mix.

 

A good hedge has many benefits in addition to being a garden boundary:

Native mix hedge in private garden

Native mix hedge in private garden

  • It provide a good shelter; reducing wind strength better than a solid fence
  • It acts as a filter; absorbing dust and noise
  • It offers privacy; as an effective visual screen
  • It offers a level of security; a prickly hedge is a great deterrent
  • It has natural beauty and interest with seasonal changes
  • It provides background texture and colour to complement other plants
  • Wildlife can benefit from its food and shelter for insects, birds and mammals
  • It is long-lived; many hedges can last hundreds of years

 

Native Mix Instant Hedges

Native mix hedging contains plants that are all native to the UK and as such emulate traditional country hedgerows found throughout Britain.  Our Native Mix would usually contain a combination of Hazel, Blackthorn, Hornbeam, Dogwood and Hawthorn, all of which are indigenous species.

Close up of Native Mix hedge leaves

Close up of leaves in Native mix hedge

 

Native Mix hedges creates a natural look and contain a variety of colours and textures which provide a rich living collage for excellent seasonal interest from the early spring blossoms to fruits and berries in the autumn.  All kinds of wildlife will be attracted by the food and shelter opportunities.

 

Native hedging, by its very nature will thrive on most soil types and can be planted in all but the deepest of shade.  It will tend to grow quite quickly at some 20 – 40 cm per year and will require pruning once a year, ideally in July; it can be left un-pruned, when it will prove even more wildlife friendly.

 

Elveden Instant Hedge
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Truly instant hedging – up to 1.8m high /in , , , /by

First planted in 1998, Practicality Brown is the sole supplier of the award-winning Elveden Instant Hedge, which is a truly mature, dense hedging product.

The Elveden Instant Hedge difference:

  • Grown from British origin stock (seed or cutting) not just UK provenance (which can be where plants have been growing in the last six months)
  • Allowed to grow and mature over time at the Elveden Estate in East Anglia
  • The roots are grown in a membrane which helps to eliminate transplant shock; thereby allowing planting of this substantial mature hedge to be carried out all year round
  • It is fed, watered and regularly clipped to ensure that it is an effective, robust and dense hedge around 2ft deep
  • For example the Green Beech available to plant now at 1.8m high was planted during 2008/9 season, some 7 or 8 years of diligent care and attention whilst the same height Laurel is 4-5 years old.
  • Available in 2.5m length strips which ensure continuity of plants, as they are replanted in the same order as they are lifted from the ground.

Time and again this proper instant hedge provides landscape architects and garden designers with the essential element to emphasize, enhance or enclose their design.  We have stock available in heights from 1.2m, 1.5m and 1.8m across a range of species, all of which are 400-500mm deep.

Elveden Instant Hedge is a premium product and still is the best in class in terms of the size, density and quality; it is perfect for high end projects and where clients or circumstances demand a superior finish.

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RHS Hampton Court Flower Show pre-report /in , , , , , /by

Practicality Brown are proud to be supporting garden designers for Show and Summer Gardens at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show this July by supplying top quality large hedging plants and trees.

A Dog’s Life Garden designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes for The Dogs Trust

As Dogs Trust celebrates its 125th anniversary, this garden marks the charity’s commitment to finding new, loving owners for thousands of homeless dogs every year.

PMS: Outside Inside Garden for NAPS designed by Emma Bannister @pmsgarden

The garden is inspired by the stories of those who suffer from severe premenstrual syndrome. The common native planting on the outside contrasts with the inaccessible space and distorted planting inside.

World Vision Garden designed by John Warland

The World Vision Garden symbolises journeys of life. Inspired by the lives of children around the world, the floating waves of turf each represent an individual life.

A breath of Fresh Air design by Rae Wilkinson for The Abbeyfield Society

Breathing new life into the concept of a sensory garden and celebrating 60 years of The Abbeyfield Society, the design has created a calming space for older people and specifically those living with dementia.

A Summer Retreat designed by Laura Arison and Amanda Waring for CCLA

Inspired by the ethos of the Arts and Crafts Movement, the garden embraces the values of simplicity, elegance, style and craftsmanship. It is designed to be either a separate garden room adjoined to a larger space or an entity on its own.

The Lavender Garden designed by Paula Napper, Sarah Warren and Donna King

The design is inspired by the scent, colour and romance of lavenders grown at a dairy farm on the rolling hills of the South Downs National Park.

For more details on the show, check out the RHS website

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Instant Hedge makes a difference /in , , , , /by

Lisa Cox, is an award-winning SGD designer who transforms gardens into inspiring spaces. Lisa created a beautiful family garden in Oxshott, Surrey and chose our Elveden Instant Hedge to complement her beautiful design creating a soft boundary in laurel on a fence line.  Lisa created a blog when first implementing the project with an update a year later.