Achieve Complete Privacy with These 9 Speedy-growing Hedges
Posted on 09/06/2025
Achieve Complete Privacy with These 9 Speedy-growing Hedges
Privacy in your backyard or garden is an essential element for a peaceful home environment. Whether you live in a bustling neighborhood or just want some seclusion from the outside world, creating a natural privacy screen with fast-growing hedges is a smart and beautiful solution. In this comprehensive guide, discover the top 9 speedy-growing hedges that will help you achieve complete privacy in your outdoor sanctuary while also enhancing your landscape's appeal.
Why Choose Fast-growing Privacy Hedges?
Fast-growing hedges are the perfect remedy when you desire privacy fast. In contrast to fences, these living barriers:
- Quickly create a secluded space with lush foliage.
- Add a natural, eco-friendly privacy screen that attracts birds and beneficial insects.
- Absorb noise, dust, and pollution, improving your microclimate.
- Increase your property's value with year-round beauty.
- Offer flexibility to shape, trim, or let them flourish naturally.
Let's explore the best fast-growing hedge plants that offer quick results and stunning greenery for your property.
Top 9 Fastest-growing Hedges for Complete Privacy
For rapid results and dense coverage, these nine hedge varieties are your go-to options:
1. Privet Hedge (Ligustrum)
The classic privet hedge is a top choice for many homeowners seeking instant privacy. With some varieties growing up to 60cm (24 inches) per year, privet can form a thick, evergreen hedge in record time. Take note: privet is semi-evergreen in colder climates, but still dense enough for year-round screening.
- Growth rate: Up to 60cm (24 inches) annually
- Light requirements: Sun or partial shade
- Benefits: Tolerates heavy pruning, drought-resistant, hardy
2. Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
Cherry laurel is famed for its broad, glossy evergreen leaves and rapid growth rate. It forms an impenetrable screen perfect for privacy hedges and even sound barriers. Cherry laurel can grow up to 60cm (2 feet) per year under ideal conditions.
- Growth rate: Up to 60cm (2 feet) per year
- Light requirements: Shade tolerant
- Benefits: Dense foliage, white scented spring flowers, pollution tolerant
3. Leyland Cypress (Cupressocyparis leylandii)
Leylandii is almost legendary for its speedy vertical growth. Sometimes called the fastest-growing conifer, this tree can shoot up more than a meter (3 feet) annually. Its lush, evergreen foliage forms a dense, towering wall against noise and prying eyes, making it ideal for large spaces.
- Growth rate: 1m (3 feet) or more per year
- Light requirements: Full sun to light shade
- Benefits: Superb windbreak, responds well to regular trimming, hard to beat for instant privacy
4. Photinia 'Red Robin' (Photinia x fraseri)
If you want an eye-catching privacy hedge, the dramatic red new growth of Photinia 'Red Robin' is a showstopper. Growing 30-40cm per year, this fast-growing privacy shrub forms a thick, evergreen barrier to keep your yard secluded.
- Growth rate: 30-40cm (12-16 inches) per year
- Light requirements: Full sun for best colour, part shade tolerated
- Benefits: Vivid red spring foliage, white flowers, attractive all year
5. Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
Hornbeam is an excellent deciduous choice for a natural privacy screen. While technically not evergreen, hornbeam's dense branching and tendency to hold onto its brown leaves through winter provide year-round coverage. It can grow up to 45cm (18 inches) annually.
- Growth rate: Up to 45cm (18 inches) a year
- Light requirements: Sun or shade
- Benefits: Attractive catkins, tough and wind-resistant, wildlife friendly
6. Bamboo (Clumping Varieties)
Bamboo isn't just fast-growing--it's practically a privacy miracle worker. Choose non-invasive clumping bamboo (such as Bambusa) for lush, rapid growth without spreading uncontrollably. Some varieties can grow 90cm to 1.5m per year, forming a screening wall in just a couple of seasons!
- Growth rate: 90cm-1.5m (3-5 feet) per year
- Light requirements: Sun or part shade
- Benefits: Stylish, rustling foliage, great windbreak, shades patios
7. Portuguese Laurel (Prunus lusitanica)
A cousin of cherry laurel, Portuguese laurel isn't quite as speedy but still grows up to 45cm yearly--perfect for a dense, formal privacy hedge. Its darker, glossy leaves and red stems add a sophisticated touch to any boundary line.
- Growth rate: Up to 45cm (18 inches) per year
- Light requirements: Sun or shade
- Benefits: Drought and pollution tolerant, elegant appearance, fragrant white flowers
8. Pyracantha (Firethorn)
The firethorn hedge is both beautiful and useful, with glossy green leaves and vibrant berries in autumn and winter. Pyracantha forms a thick, spiny hedge that will keep out intruders as well as prying eyes. With a growth rate up to 90cm a year, it's a fast and secure option for privacy.
- Growth rate: Up to 90cm (3 feet) per year
- Light requirements: Sun or shade
- Benefits: Wildlife attractant, security barrier, year-round interest
9. Escallonia
Escallonia makes a superb flowering privacy hedge, which flourishes especially well in coastal or milder gardens. With a growth rate of 30cm (12 inches) or more per year, its thick glossy leaves and clusters of pink or red summer blooms provide both privacy and curb appeal.
- Growth rate: 30-45cm (12-18 inches) per year
- Light requirements: Full sun preferred
- Benefits: Salt and wind tolerant, attracts pollinators, lovely flowers
Choosing the Right Fast-Growing Hedge for Your Needs
With so many outstanding fast-growing hedging options available, how do you determine which is best for your space? Consider these factors:
Climate and Soil
- Check hardiness and suitability for your location
- Some hedges prefer acidic or alkaline soils
- Wet or dry sites? Drought tolerance may be important
Evergreen vs. Deciduous
- Evergreens like cherry laurel or Leylandii block views all year round
- Deciduous hedges like hornbeam still provide winter screening
Size and Maintenance
- How high do you want your living screen?
- Willing to prune regularly (Leylandii, privet) or more informal (bamboo, Escallonia)?
- Check for invasiveness--opt for clumping bamboo, not running
How to Plant and Care for Fast-growing Privacy Hedges
To guarantee your speedy-growing hedges thrive and deliver a dense, lasting screen, follow these top tips:
- Soil Preparation: Loosen and enrich the soil with organic matter before planting for healthy roots.
- Spacing: Follow recommended distances between plants--typically 30-60cm (12-24 inches) depending on the species and desired density.
- Watering: New hedges must be watered regularly until established (at least first 1-2 years).
- Mulching: Helps retain moisture, regulate temperature, and reduce weeds.
- Feeding: Use a balanced fertilizer in spring to promote vigorous growth.
- Pruning: Trim fast growers regularly to shape the hedge and encourage bushiness (especially top growth control for leylandii and privet).
- Pest & Disease Control: Check plants regularly for common issues and treat early if needed.
Benefits of Privacy Hedges over Fences
Why choose a living hedge instead of a manufactured fence for your privacy needs? Here are several compelling benefits:
- Eco-friendly: Living hedges act as carbon sinks, support biodiversity, and even provide nesting habitats for birds.
- Natural beauty complements your landscape and offers changing seasonal interest.
- Increased property value due to mature landscaping and curb appeal.
- Noise and wind reduction, which a simple fence can rarely match.
- Customizable height and shape for a truly tailored screen.
Frequently Asked Questions about Fast-growing Hedging Plants
How quickly can I expect full privacy from a new hedge?
With the right species and good care, many fastest-growing hedges will reach 2 metres (6 feet) high in just 2-3 years, often providing significant privacy even sooner.
Can I plant a privacy hedge all year round?
The best time to plant most hedges is autumn or early spring, when the soil is moist and roots can establish before hot or freezing weather arrives. Container-grown plants can be set any time, but extra care is needed in summer.
Do fast-growing hedges require lots of maintenance?
They do grow quickly and respond well to trimming. For a tidy, dense hedge, plan to prune at least annually--sometimes 2-3 times per year for speedy species like privet or Leylandii.
What's the best low-maintenance fast-growing privacy hedge?
Bamboo (clumping kind) and Escallonia generally need little pruning. Many cherry and Portuguese laurels are also undemanding once established, but all will benefit from an annual tidy-up.
Conclusion: Create Your Private Paradise with Speedy Hedges
If you dream of a tranquil outdoor haven shielded from the world, fast-growing hedges are your answer. They provide rapid, reliable screening, year-round beauty, and a living barrier that enhances your entire property. By choosing from our top 9 privacy hedge recommendations and giving your plants a little early care, you'll soon enjoy a lush, green, and completely private space to call your own. Ready to transform your garden with speedy-growing hedges for privacy? Plant today--and see the difference in just a few seasons!
