ONE OF the best ways of making your garden an attractive sight is to have a well kept hedge.

Offering you the chance to get creative with a range of shapes, sizes or designs, not only do they look great but they can also be extremely useful.

A practical plus for hedges at the moment, considering the UK is tipped for its worst winter in a very long time, is that they provide a vital barrier to your home and garden from the effects of wind. Y

Hedges can also muffle the noise of passing traffic and form an effective barrier by intercepting litter from the road to help keep your garden clean, peaceful and rubbish free.

And with keen – or creative – gardeners able to create their own shapes by clipping, cutting and shaping the trees through the art of topiary, there are plenty of options on what would suit your garden best.

A well established hedge could brighten up your garden for years so it’s worth putting serious consideration into your choice.

First of all, it’s key to decide what sort of hedge you want as some will require more upkeep than others.

If you’re looking for a permanent hedge to provide a shield then you’ll want to opt for an evergreen hedge. But if an attractive, decorated hedge accompanies your dream garden better then a Deciduous plant such as a beech or maple would be a better option.

Both are routine to grow and maintain as you aim to brighten up your garden, with evergreen hedges giving shelter and privacy all year round. However, they take more maintenance and need to be pruned annually, ideally twice a year.

Privet (Ligustrum ovalifolium) and box plants (Buxus sempervirens) are classic choices for an evergreen hedge in Britain. Privet is extremely tough whereas box is perfect for close clipping and grows slower than privet making it easier to maintain. These hedges can grow to between 0.5 and 1.5m in height.

English Yew Hedge (Taxus baccata) is another popular evergreen. It's dense and slow growing and once it reaches its desired height it's easy to maintain. It is one of the best hedges to grow if you are looking for a hedge that will stand for years.

Deciduous plants can be very attractive; none more so than a beech hedge holding onto its brown leaves over winter. It won’t offer the shelter or privacy of an evergreen but it will make your garden a beautiful sight.

A deciduous hedge will still filter wind in winter. They are more forgiving with pruning, and although they should be pruned in late summer, if you miss a year or two they will respond well to renovation.

If this all sounds a bit difficult then just remember that it’s pretty straight forward. It’s like plotting a normal plant; it just grows a lot bigger.

If you buy bare root plants, it is important to put the roots into water as soon as you can. You need to dig a trench that is 50cms wide and deep enough to accommodate the roots.

The soil can be improved with compost or well-rotted manure to help the new plant grow. It’s important to water well during establishment, especially in dry periods - but when do we ever get them in Wales?

After that is done, you can sit back, relax, and watch the attractive addition to your garden grow.