Indoors and over a cup of tea I had a rummage on the web and turned up an excellent summary of what to think about and look for on GardenVisit.com (an entirely excellent site by the way, full of really good stuff and the best garden visit planner I have ever seen)
Almost any plant, provided it is woody and does not mind a bit of competition and being cut back occasionally can be used in a country hedge. But that does not make it a great hedging plant. I have, honestly, seen a hedge made entirely from Ash. Interesting idea, but utterly useless.
Here are my top ten country hedging plants:
Continuing the theme of why hedging is, as 1066 and All That would have said, a thoroughly Good Thing.
Sitting in the garden yesterday (before the rain) we played a drinking game where you paid a forfeit if you could not think of something to do with hedges and high life or low life. Here are a few of the more sensible thoughts:
I suppose this should have started nearer the beginning - Ashridge Trees is our business. We grow and sell about 2 million shrubs and trees a year. We have a huge range of hedging plants and hedge shrubs. I suppose you could say we major on hedging. But we also grow and sell ornamental and fruit trees, and we have a widening range of soft fruit. Oh, nearly forgot - and just about every hedging related planting accessory you can think of.