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Can someone help identify what this is called being used as hedging in the south of the UK?

Looking online at pre-grown ready to plant hedging it looks similar to Cherry Laurel, but I'm no expert.

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Niall C.
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user6888062
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    That's not a great photo I'm afraid, its too dark to see detail, if you can take another, clearer one that would help - the size of the leaf could mean cherry laurel, but the leaves, from the little I can see, do not look right to be that. – Bamboo Feb 24 '17 at 12:24

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It is Griselinia littoralis - there's a variegated version too, but its not as hardy as Prunus laurocerasus (cherry laurel) and may lose its leaves in a severe winter. In the north of the UK, it may actually be killed in a hard winter, but it does well in coastal regions,where its frequently used as hedging. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=889

Bamboo
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  • Looks good to me. https://www.best4hedging.co.uk/griselinia-littoralis-hedge-plant-pp20. Thanks for helping. Appreciated. – user6888062 Feb 24 '17 at 19:39
  • Definitely *Griselinia*. I'm a landscape architect and we frequently use these on residential schemes in the South of England. With the climate going the way it is, we're not too worried. Personally, not a great fan - there are better and tidier evergreens for hedges. Ecologically, they're pretty useless. I wish we could use native hedges more. – George of all trades Feb 25 '17 at 18:44
  • @Georgeofalltrades - the last time any were defoliated or died was back in 2010, during that snowy winter. And why can't you use 'native' hedging more, though not sure quite what you mean by native anyway, unless you mean 'considered to be native'... – Bamboo Feb 25 '17 at 19:00
  • Clients consider it to be untidy and engineers refuse to allow tree species such as *Carpinus betulus* due to fears about soil shrinkage and National Housebuilding Council standards. It's all pretty mindless and bad science for the most part. – George of all trades Feb 25 '17 at 19:12
  • As for what's native, well that's an argument that rages on... I feel comfortable saying that *Griselinia* isn't! – George of all trades Feb 25 '17 at 19:13
  • @Georgeofalltrades was really more curious as to why you don't use more native hedging, or at least, considered to be nearly native after all this time hedging – Bamboo Feb 25 '17 at 19:18