Will hedge grow back?

Yew seedlings are slow at first, but most people don't grow hedges from seed.

I have some self sown yew and I've been cutting it for years as it has grown well.

A foot after 6 yrs does seem really slow.
Even my upright Irish yews grow about 8 inches a year.
Ordinary tree yew, for want of a better description, makes about a ft year in my garden.

 

We're in the West Midlands but couldn't tell you the soil type I'm afraid.

 

If your soil is free draining and doesn’t get waterlogged @Murphy99, an alternative conifer which can be cut back to old wood and will regrow is Thuja plicata. It can provide a similar dense screen and will grow in free draining soil, in sun or shade and in sheltered or exposed inland locations. It is not thuggish like Leylandii and can be easily maintained. I trim mine just once a year.

 

If you intend removing and replacing the hedge, I'd go for privet, as suggested earlier in the thread. Beech and Hornbeam are also good, but they aren't evergreen, although they retain their foliage, so they give good cover. They can also be kept neat, and don't need frequent trimming.
While privet isn't truly evergreen, it would still be dense enough if you had a severe winter.

You can remove the old hedge over the next month or so, and that gives you time to renew and replenish the area which will benefit any new hedge.
It's a good idea to then order bare root plants which will be available by around Oct/November, and plant then. It's far cheaper than going and buying potted plants, and you can then plant more densely, which is also better. It also avoids planting at this time of year which is never as good as autumn because of the care required.
It isn't instant, but no hedge is unless you buy a ready grown one which would be hideously expensive, and again - the care needed at this time of year would make it very difficult for establishment.The amount you need is obviously a factor, so the length of the area determines the overall cost.
Whatever option you decide on, don't buy larger plants as it's false economy, and they just need cut back anyway to encourage growth lower down, and to make it easier for them to establish, especially at this time of year

 

At this stage, I wouldn't remove what looks like a reasonably healthy hedge but simply replace the damaged plant/plants with a similar conifer like Thuja, or the same species that you have which looks like Leylandii. Removing a hedge of that size is going to be costly, including removing the roots and replenishing the soil, plus purchasing the new plants. A hedge grown from bare root plants is going to take at least a couple of years, depending on the species that you choose, before it gives you a dense screen and privacy.

 

One of the reasons why privet is common is that it's not fussy about soil type. It's fine on our sandy soil, and I'm guessing ours was planted without much or any soil improvement judging from other areas of the garden where I've removed old shrubs.

The privet was so overgrown that it looked like a row of trees when we bought the place, in 1988. It could have been planted any time after 1950 when the house was built. I chopped it all back to about 4 feet high and now keep it at somewhere a little under 5 feet. One section survived the foliage and small twigs being burnt off by the exhaust from a van that the Virgin cable installers put on the pavement right up against it with the engine running. It's tough as old boots! I've heard it can be susceptible to honey fungus if you have it in your garden/area, but so can many other woody plants.

 

How about Griselinia? It's a light green so will brighten your garden and is also available variegated. It grows fast so will need trimming more often.

griselinia hedge images - Search Images (bing.com)