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Phillyrea angustifolia has small, glossy green leaves and tiny, perfumed white flowers in summer. It is sometimes used in Scandinavian parterres: though Mediterranean, it is hardier than Buxus sempervirens. It will also grow into a hedge of up to 4ft.

In mild gardens, the dappled foliage of Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Silver Magic’, and the yellow-green ‘Limelight’ both look good. Wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) is useful for shady areas, with dense, dark-green foliage that clips well. It is hardy and seems to like any soil, providing it is not sodden.

In a sunny garden, try the handsome white-flowered variant of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis). Some gardeners say that no rosemary clips well. Don’t believe them: this one makes good, tidy hedges 18in high and the same across. With a lovely smell in fine weather, it is a perfect framework for old roses and is easy to propagate from cuttings.

If you live in the north, or in an area of high rainfall, try bog myrtle (Myrica gale), which has pungent dark-green leaves, trims well, grows slowly and propagates easily.

Lavenders have been used as hedges for quite as long as box. For small edges, use ‘Dwarf White’ or the overfamiliar ‘Hidcote’, with its violet-blue flowers. ‘Old English’ has bigger leaves, with the finest fragrance, but my favourite is the large, sprawling and delightful ‘Giant White’, perfect for a loosely trimmed border holding in old roses.

Most ordinary lavenders are hardy. In milder areas, consider Lavandula dentata, with toothed grey-green leaves and a tuft of blue or white bracts at the tip of each flower spike. The French lavender popular in garden centres is similar, but smells less attractive. The gorgeous L lanata has broad white leaves, is effective and long-lived against a warm wall, and smells wonderful.

For mid-size hedges: The dark-green and velvety yew (Taxus baccata) is a great choice, tolerant of all soils and aspects. Don't, however, use the fastigiate (columnar) form: the branching pattern does not suit hedging or topiary.

Escallonia makes good, glossy evergreen hedging and will give flowers even on pruned bushes. It can be floppy, so if you need something tough, even aggressive, use spined, sharp-twigged pyracanthas.

Privets are a great hedging staple and, even if they are redolent of 1930s sub-urbia, worth looking at again. Some of the variegated forms of Ligustrum ovali-folium are handsome, and other species are worth chasing, among them Ligustrum lucidum. Again, cuttings are easy; even clippings that fall into the borders frequently root.

Lonicera nitida, with neat, small leaves, is another good, if maligned, bush for a hedge up to 3ft tall – any higher and it turns into a jelly. It’s fast-growing, obedient and swiftly pruned, and I’ve seen it clipped into rabbits, a peacock and a front-garden rhino.

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