Hi Sachakim,

Hedging is really a taste thing isn't it! Personally I love Beech, because it keeps it's lovely bronze leaves on all winter and in the spring it's lime green. However, it is a 'country' plant isn't it, a bit rustic perhaps for a town wall.....I would recommend you take a look down at the bottom of this page, click on H, then on Hedging Ideas and have a look at all the photos of hedging on that page to get some inspiration. I like Lonicera hedging too and it can be clipped so doesn't need to get too deep and dense if you want to keep it narrow.

I presume you're planting on your garden side of the wall??
Are you sure you want privet? I'm thinking about the yearly trimming it's going to need.
Would the side of the wall be in sun or shade?
If I was you, I'd plant some climers to give some year-round interest - clematis, honeysuckle, jasmine etc, pretty to look at and smells nice.

Good idea Donna, I'm all for that!

If you definitely want a hedge then Photinia Red Robin is , in my opinion, a lot more attractive than privet. If you keep it regularly lightly pruned then it makes a nice dense hedge. But its all a matter of personal preference.
I have a picture of one in my pictures.

Hi thank you all for your answers, I am pretty clueless when it comes to gardening but would like to make more of the outside of my house rather than just plant pots! Originally I was going to just get some climbers but as the wall is rather long I would need quite a lot to fill up the space. However I probably will get some honeysuckle for the front. I have read up on both beech and photinia red Robin and I agree both look much more attractive than privet! Can I ask how tall they grow? And how much they spread? The wall gets the sun all day in summer. As I am a beginner any other plant suggestions would be great. I was also thinking of getting a ceanothus dentatus?? As I read they grow quite tall but not to wild.
Thanks again

With Photinia Red Robin its probably best to plant it at least a foot, perhaps more, away from the wall. I keep mine trimmed all the time ( the recommended time to prune is after the red leaves have turned green in early summer ) but I give it light trims throughout the year because i want it to stay at about 5 feet tall and about 2 feet wide. They will grow very big if you let them.
If you buy a few to make a hedge then go for the short stocky ones at the garden centre because they are the easiest to trim to a nice dense hedge. The tall leggy ones will be harder to get to a nice shape. The little stocky ones will grow quickly anyhow. And its evergreen too.

Yes, and Beech has to be trimmed every year once it reaches the height you want it to be, as it can get very very tall!

On the other hand, if you want a climber that's evergreen, grows really fast and has beautiful scented flowers, how about a Clematis Armandii Apple Blossom...google it. Clematis Montana also grows very fast and you could choose from some beautiful vars. there too, a few of which are scented. They flower May the Armandii March/April...why not have both and then follow on with your honeysuckle and your Ceanothus for summer flowers and go out with a bang by planting Clematis Viticella (hundreds to choose from) which will flower July to the first frosts! Go for it, don't settle for boring old hedge! btw, Clematis Armandii and Montana need no pruning and Viticella just gets chopped down almost to the ground once a year.

By the way Sachakim, when you start out gardening two very important things to take not of....your soil type (get a cheap testing kit if your neighbours can't tell you, then make sure what you are planting likes your kind of soil) and secondly, when you are out and about, take a note of what plants are thriving in your neighbours' gardens. Oh, and one last thing, it does matter what aspect you are working with, so if your border on the front of your wall faces south it will be quite different to if it faces north, so take that into account when choosing your plants too. Use Google to enter a search....e.g. "plants for a north facing wall" and you will get loads of results. Hope it goes well! K :)

Since security is a concern, you might also consider shrubs with thorns, such as Pyracantha, or Trifoliate Orange.

Thank you for the advice! As it's quite a long space I may try a few of your ideas. Security is not a problem as such but as we have an end terrace we would like to make it more private. Plus as it's just grass at the side of our house we seem to get alot of dog walkers passing by! It's a good space and that's why I would like some sort of hedge, actually I was reading up on purple berberis! What are these like? They look quite nice and seem to be manageable. And there prickly too! Thanks for all your messages

Purple berberis can be very attractive with yellow flowers in early summer. But it is very prickly with long sharp spikes and it has an arching habit so it will want to grow sideways as much as upwards and needs a fair bit of training and control to make a good hedge.

I believe that it's also deciduous in the UK.