Winter flowering hedges

A hedge that blooms in winter, both colourful and fragrant, is not only possible but wonderful to fight against the prevailing gloom, at this time of year when the garden is a bit dull. You will find on these pages a wide selection including great classics like Camellia, Mahonia and laurel, but also lesser-known shrubs like Lonicera fragrantissima or Chimonanthus praecox, remarkably fragrant, which will allow you to personalise your hedge. Beyond its utilitarian role in providing a boundary or a screen for your garden, the winter flowering hedge is also very useful for bees, which struggle to feed from December to early March. Like any flowering hedge, it grows more or less freely, with only one annual pruning usually necessary to contain its growth. It can be interesting to mix evergreen and deciduous shrubs to avoid it looking too bare. Our selection includes varieties ranging from 1m (3ft) to over 4m (13ft) in height, to create low, medium or tall hedges.