Griselinia hedging and its ideal spacing
Griselinia has become a popular choice for hedging in many UK gardens and is one of our top sellers.
One of the main reasons is its lush, apple-green leaves that look vibrant and fresh all year round, even in winter. Griselinia has dense and glossy foliage that provides excellent screening and privacy, right down to the ground. This dense foliage also acts as a natural sound barrier, muffling traffic noise and creating a peaceful sanctuary in your garden. Whether you reside near a busy road or seek a tranquil escape, a Griselinia hedge helps to provide a welcome respite from unwanted sounds.
Griselinia thrives in coastal areas thanks to its ability to tolerate salt spray and coastal wind. It will also grow inland in any soil, as long as it is not water-logged, and can cope with temperatures down to -15°C. Griselinia is fast-growing and easy to shape, making it a practical and versatile hedging option. It can grow up to 50cm per year, and it can reach a height of 4-6m (12-18ft) but you can keep it to any height by pruning it regularly or it can be shaped into balls or other topiary shapes.
Griselinia can be pruned once or twice a year, preferably in spring or summer, to keep it neat and tidy. IYou can train it into different forms and styles, such as formal, informal, or curved hedges. If a Griselinia hedge grows too big, you can cut it hard back and it will re-shoot from old wood.
To grow a Griselinia hedge there are two options. You can either plant individual hedging plants and wait for them to grow and knit together into a hedge (this is usually the cheaper option) or you can buy our instant hedging troughs that will give you a pre-formed and trimmed Griselinia hedge immediately.
You can plant individual Griselinia hedging plants between 50cm and 100cm apart. We generally recommend planting a Griselinia hedge at 60cm (2ft) apart from the centre of one plant to the centre of the next. If you plant closer (say 50cm apart) you will get a quicker hedge. If you plant further apart, say 1 metre apart, it will take longer to form a hedge, possibly another year or two. You can use our Hedge Spacing Calculator to work out how many individual plants you need. For smaller hedges, that you want to keep at 1.2m (4ft) or less, it is better to plant slightly closer at 50 to 60cm apart.
If you want an instant hedge, then plant our instant hedging troughs. Plant these one per metre as they are one metre long and will form an instant screen. You just dig a trench, remove the trough, place the hedge in the trench and fill the soil back in to hold the roots in place.
We have individual Griselinia hedging plants and Griselinia Instant Hedging Troughs in different heights. Please see our Griselinia page for more information.