Tall Hedges for Privacy: What to Plant and How Fast It Grows

Screening height in two years or ten, depending on what you plant. Growth rates, spacing, final size and the species that become a liability.

By Salma October 25, 2026 5 min read Save to Pinterest

A dense privet hedge grown through a wire fence, forming a solid green screen to head height — Photo: anaterate, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay

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A hedge is a twenty-year decision made in an afternoon. Growth rate and final width are the two numbers to get right, and most planting regret comes from ignoring the second.

The short answer

Match the species to how fast you need the screen and how wide you can let it get. Green Giant arborvitae grows two to three feet a year and is the usual answer for speed; yew is slow at six to twelve inches but lives for centuries and regrows from old wood; hornbeam and beech hold dead leaves through winter so they screen while deciduous. Avoid leylandii unless you will clip it twice a year forever — it will not regrow from old wood and it causes boundary disputes. Space arborvitae three to five feet apart, beech and yew eighteen inches to two feet; planting closer makes a thinner hedge, not a faster one.

Growth rate and mature width decide everything
Green Giant arborvitae for speed without the leylandii problem
Yew if you can wait — it regrows from old wood
Beech and hornbeam screen in winter despite dropping
Check the height rules before you plant

The species, by what they actually do

Privacy hedging compared

Plant	Growth/yr	Mature height	Spacing	Notes
Green Giant arborvitae	2–3 ft	30–50 ft	5 ft	Fast, tidy, the usual pick
Emerald Green arborvitae	6–12 in	12–15 ft	3 ft	Narrow, small gardens
Leylandii	3–4 ft	60 ft+	3–4 ft	Dispute machine. No regrowth from old wood
Yew	6–12 in	20 ft+	18–24 in	Regrows from old wood. Centuries
Beech	12–18 in	25 ft	18 in	Holds brown leaves in winter
Hornbeam	12–18 in	30 ft	18 in	As beech, better on wet/clay
Laurel	2 ft	20 ft	2–3 ft	Big leaves, fast, needs space
Holly	6–12 in	25 ft	2 ft	Slow, dense, berries
Privet	2 ft	12 ft	15–18 in	Cheap, greedy, semi-evergreen
Clumping bamboo	3 ft+	15–25 ft	3–5 ft	Clumping only. Never running

Yew is the only one on that list that reliably regrows from old wood. That matters more than it sounds: it means a yew hedge that gets away from you can be cut back hard and recover, where a leylandii cut into brown wood stays brown forever.

Leylandii is fast for one reason and a liability for the same reason

Three to four feet a year does not stop when the hedge reaches the height you wanted. It needs clipping twice a year, forever, and if it is ever allowed to get away, cutting it back into old wood leaves a permanent brown face.

In England and Wales the High Hedges rules let a neighbour complain about an evergreen hedge over two metres that blocks their light, and the council can order it reduced. Most of those cases are this plant.

Spacing, which people get wrong in both directions

Arborvitae and large conifers — three to five feet apart, from mature width
Beech, hornbeam, yew, holly — eighteen inches to two feet in a single row
A denser screen — stagger a double row, two feet apart each way
Laurel — two to three feet; it gets big, and crowding it produces bare legs

Planting closer does not grow a screen faster. It grows competing plants that go thin at the base, which is exactly where you wanted the privacy.

Getting it established

Plant in autumn in most climates — root growth over winter, less watering next summer
Dig a trench, not individual holes. A continuous trench gives even root run and an even hedge
Do not over-enrich the trench. Roots that find a rich pocket stay in it
Water deeply for the first two summers. This is the single biggest factor in how fast it closes, far more than plant size at purchase
Mulch the strip, three inches, kept off the stems
Keep the base weed-free for two years. Grass to the stem halves the growth rate
Trim the sides from year one, lightly. Do not touch the leaders until they are near target height

Taper the sides — wider at the bottom

A hedge clipped with vertical sides, or worse with the top wider than the base, shades its own bottom and goes bare at ground level. That is where the privacy was.

Clip to a slight A-shape, a few degrees narrower at the top. Every old hedge that is still dense to the ground is cut this way.

Before planting, check three things

Height rules. Local by-laws, deed restrictions, and in England and Wales the High Hedges legislation
The boundary itself. Plant well inside your line — a hedge planted on the boundary becomes a shared problem and the neighbour may lawfully cut their side back to it
What is on the other side. Yew is fatal to horses and cattle; several fast conifers are listed as invasive in parts of Australia and North America

If you need the screen this year

A hedge will not do it. Realistic options:

Plant the hedge and put something temporary in front — a slatted screen, a willow hurdle panel, or a row of pots with tall grasses
Trellis with an evergreen climber — star jasmine, evergreen honeysuckle — on an existing fence, which screens within two seasons
Fence first, hedge behind it. The fence works immediately, the hedge takes over in five years, and you remove the fence when it rots

Buying eight-foot instant hedging is the other option, and it is several times the price, harder to establish, and usually overtaken by a four-foot planting within four years.

Common questions

What is the best tall hedge for privacy?

For most temperate gardens, arborvitae such as Green Giant or Emerald Green, hornbeam, beech, yew and laurel cover the range. Green Giant arborvitae puts on two to three feet a year and screens quickly; yew is slower at six to twelve inches but lives for centuries and tolerates hard pruning; hornbeam and beech hold dead leaves through winter so they screen even though they are deciduous. The right answer depends on how fast you need it, how wide you can let it get, and how much clipping you will actually do.

What is the fastest growing privacy hedge?

Leylandii is the fastest at three to four feet a year, and it is the one most likely to become a problem — it does not stop at the height you wanted, it will not regrow from old wood if you cut it back hard, and it is the cause of a great many boundary disputes. Green Giant arborvitae at two to three feet a year is the usual better answer. Bamboo is fast but must be a clumping species, never a running one.

How far apart should I plant a privacy hedge?

Closer than a specimen planting but wider than most people plant. For arborvitae and conifers, three to five feet apart depending on mature width. For beech, hornbeam and yew, eighteen inches to two feet in a single row, or stagger a double row at two feet for a denser screen. Planting too close does not make a hedge faster — it makes a thin, competing, bare-bottomed one.

How long until a hedge gives privacy?

With fast conifers planted at four to five feet tall, two to three years to a solid six-foot screen. With yew or box, closer to five to eight years. Buying larger plants buys roughly a year or two and costs several times more, and large transplants establish more slowly, so the gap narrows. Planting smaller and watering well for the first two summers usually catches up with an expensive instant hedge within four years.

Are there hedges I should avoid?

Leylandii is the main caution in Europe for its speed and refusal to regrow from old wood. Running bamboo escapes and is extremely hard to remove. Privet is cheap but greedy and semi-evergreen at best. Several fast conifers are listed as invasive in parts of Australia and North America, and some popular screening plants are toxic to livestock — yew in particular is fatal to horses and cattle. Check local status and what is on the other side of the fence.

Do I need permission for a tall hedge?

Sometimes, and it varies sharply. In England and Wales the High Hedges legislation lets a neighbour complain about an evergreen hedge over two metres that blocks light, and the council can order it reduced. Many other jurisdictions have boundary height limits in local by-laws or deed restrictions. Overhanging branches can usually be cut back to the boundary by a neighbour. Check local rules before planting something that will end up fifteen feet tall.

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