Best hedge

A friend of mine is moving in to a house and from lawm does not have a fence at road side and he wants a hedge, he's not a gardener and just something that's certain to grow is really heathy and needs no watering our feeding just a clipping and looks good and neat when trimmed , as much as it pained me tonsay it I suggested laurel, has any one else got suggestions for a super hardy hedge that needs little care and is happy in windy poation with wet cold winters and looks good when trimmed ? I thought maybe yew

 

Beech and hornbeam? Hawthorn?

 

I vote yew.
Too much laurel being planted because it grows fast, it's the house developers favourite, but you end up cutting it about 5 times a year to keep it tidy.

 

I don't know how easy they are to grow as a hedge plant, or how long it would take to reach maturity, but I'm seeing more and more photinia hedges about nowadays, not your usual go to type of hedge plant. They are stunning, and if I ever needed a hedge I'd jump at the chance of growing one.

 

How about lonicera nitida, I have some of that, faster growing than yew but small leaves so it never looks tatty with brown leaves cut in half.

 

Escallonia or Hebe perhaps and both flower.

 

Copper Beech.

 

I'm going to go against the grain

Instead of making a suggestion, I would ask what look the person wants.

So, what look are we going for?

And what would fit in with the surroundings?

We know we're looking for low maintenance but that doesn't really narrow it down that much.

Are we going for formal? Single species or mixed hedge? Is it a country cottage look or is it more modern urban?

When I bought my house, a fairly nondescript duplicate of all the other houses in the area, there was no front hedge. Everyone pushed me towards privet, because that's what nearly everyone other house has. I stuck to my guns and went for a mixed hedge. There's all sorts in there, and not all planted at the same time. I've got copper beach, a crab apple, holly, mock orange thing (can't remember it's name), an upright honeysuckle, and a self seeded sycamore that I'm still deciding whether to leave or remove. Over the years I put various other things in that I bought cheap, that failed, but others that I randomly put in are thriving. I think my hedge is ok. Several of the people that years ago urged me to go for privet have since complemented me on my choice of hedge. So point is, personal preference on appearance is at least as important as technical suitability for the conditions.