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Herb Hedge Plantings
Some of the fragrant herbs can grow as borders, edgings, and low hedges. Others that aren't fragrant also make good low hedges because they have interesting foliage or ornamental gray leaves. Boxwood, though not an herb, is the traditional edging in knot and formal herb gardens.
Lavender. Probably the most ideal fragrant hedge is English or true lavender (Lavandula spica) or spike lavender (L. latifolia). Bushy, with narrow gray-green foliage, it grows 1-1.2m high. Wonderfully fragrant flowers, lavender in color, grow in spikes at the ends of straight stems one foot or more in length. You can use the flowers in sachets, potpourris, and arrangements.
Even though you may not want to gather the flowers for their fragrance, cut the stems after blooming to keep the plants tight and bushy. Keep the sides trimmed for a formal appearance. About every 3 or 4 years, take cuttings, root them, and replace old, woody plants with the new rooted cuttings.
Dwarf lavenders, some of which grow to about one foot high, make tidy little hedges or edgings. L. stoechas, sometimes called Spanish lavender, grows about 0.5-1m high and has deep purple flowers in dense spikes. L. spica 'Munstead' is a miniature English lavender, about 45cm tall and earlier blooming than the species.
Lavender hedges are beautiful in themselves, wonderfully effective along brick, stone, or gravel paths, and are compatible with many flowers, especially iris, roses, carnations, garden pinks, gypsophila, nepeta, and regal lilies. The spiky blossoms of lavender add a sharp accent to perennial borders.
Rosemary. Upright species of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) are rangy and grow to about 0.7-2m high. Rosemary makes a higher, broader hedge than lavender. The gray-green foliage and stems carry a strong, resinous, piney scent. In mild winter sections along the Pacific coast, the soft lavender-blue flowers bloom through the winter and into early summer. In the Northwest, rosemary usually doesn't bloom until April. A little more touchy than lavender, rosemary cannot be counted on to come through extremely severe winters. Prune it after blooming to encourage new growth. Upright varieties such as 'Tuscan Blue' should be planted 35cm apart fora hedge.
Santolina. One of the most useful low hedges, Santolina or woolly cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus) is more pungent than fragrant. Ordinarily it grows as a spreading plant 45cm to 20cm high, but it looks attractive when clipped to make a tight little hedge or edging about 20-40cm tall. Although santolina's short, toothed leaves are best described as gray-green, the plant takes on an almost white appearance when full grown and is a good night time plant for corners of paths and near garden steps. Some gardeners do not consider attractive the bright yellow, button-like flowers and prefer to cut them off before they bloom.
Use santolina in the same way you would lavender. In size it is the equivalent of boxwood for edging formal beds in old-fashioned knot and herb gardens. Beds planted tightly with bright colored flowers look neat behind clipped santolina.
Germander. Though it is not fragrant, bush germander (Teucrium fruticans) is suitable for growing as a medium to tall hedge. It is 1-3m tall and each plant can grow up to 2m wide. It makes a gray-green, silvery hedge and can be clipped into various shapes for formal appearance or allowed to grow more coarsely for casual gardens.
Another species, T. chamaedrys, is lower, 30-60cm tall and spreading, to about 60cm with dark green leaves and many branching stems. For a neat appearance, shear plants back once or twice a year to force side branching.