Planning a hedge

I want to plant barberry shrub as a hedge but would like to alternate it with another type of shrub. Any suggestions as to what would look good? I have this husband that doesn't like to see just plain old green all summer)
We are in Stirling, Ontario, mid-way between Belleville and Trenton and 20 km north and I believe the zone is 5b.

 

Hello Patricia and welcome to GC.

I don't think many will be familiar with your weather so it would help if you could let us know what your weather is typically like in winter/summer and how cold/hot it gets.

What size shrubs will you be planting? If you are planting a decent sized hedge, you could plant some Clematis with it which would weave its way through and give you some stunning summer colour.

 

Sorry, I should have mentioned what sort of weather we have.
Summers temperatures can go as high as the mid to high 30's celsius. It can get quite humid at times also. We tend to get what I call hot spells that can last one to two weeks at a time. Normal temps are probably high 20's celsius.
Winters can get as cold as 0 to -15, although wind chill has been known to take it to -20 or more. This past winter was exceptionally mild and we had a week of weather in mid March that was from 20-27, which really brought the perennials on early. One of my clematis is aboyt 5 ft tall already but hasn't blossomed yet. I have a Nelly Moser that appears to have buds on it already. My burning bush is in full leaf also as well as my purple sandcherry.
My husband was wowed by your idea of planting clematis among the hedge! We shall definitely give that serious thought.
Pat

 

the problem with planting a hedge using lots of different species of shrubs is that it looks like a smartie box (to me)

perhaps plant the same shrub for several meters, then a different one for several meters etc

our village bowling club has a hedge where they have used many different shrubs for the hedge, and it looks very odd to me .... but I suppose many other people may enjoy this type of planting

zone 5b is pretty cold -23 to -29 degrees C .... but best that you can do is have a look what other people in your neighbourhood are planting, ask your local garden centres and then work from there

a quick google finds these evergreens for zone 5 (but double check)
Kalm's St. John's Wort

American Arborvitae

Wintergreen Barberry

Inkberry

 

A neighbour of mine has a mixed hedge and it looks scruffy all year round. Even when it has been trimmed the different growth rate of the individual plants make it look very uneven.

 

That's exactly my view too. Looks fine around a field, not good for an ornamental hedge. I've seen two plants mixed in hedges (specifically in the famous garden at Hidcote - no doubt there are some pictures online that you can find, there are a couple on my blog although probably not clear enough that you can see the effect [Link]).

However, I think you could plant Berberis with something else to provide additional interest.

"I have this husband that doesn't like to see just plain old green all summer"

Does he know that it will flower, and have fruits too?

I wonder if you could plant the Red-leave type in with the bog-standard green one?

If you have enough depth you could plant a short variety with red leaves in front of a taller green one, and trim the one in front to make a 2' tall (say) "ledge" at the front. (There's a picture of a "stepped" Yew hedge at Kiftsgate on my blog that might explain what I mean [Link])

 

Found some other pictures of combination hedge planting at Hidcote

Yew with Box at the bottom. Sorry, but "Yuck"

The rest are Holly and Beech combination. I didn't like that either:

 

This is the "stepped" hedge at Kiftsgate:

 

P.S. There was a combination hedge at Kiftsgate which we liked, but I can't find a photograph. I think it was Holly and Copper Beech.

 

Is it a formal or informal hedge you are growing?

If it's a formal one (ie is it going to be clipped into shape regularly) then I do think it looks better to have one type of shrub.

If it's going to be an informal one (ie more for screening but won't be clipped much) then I was going to suggest using a few different types of Berberis or a mix of other native shrubs which your local wildlife could use to nest in.

Here's the effect you could go for with the hedge/Clematis combination. I just think it looks beautiful.

 

It is meant to be more for privacy and the only prunung we would do is to not let it get too tall or scraggly looking. The more I think about the clematis bit, the more inclined I am to go that way. Especially since I would love to have more and more of them!
I thank you all for your great suggestions and comments and photos, especially of the English gardens. Talk about formal, WOW! Gardening like that would interfere with my golf way too much!
Pat

 

Although ... usually a hedge like that is only cut once a year ...