A well-chosen hedge can do a lot more than just look great—it can give you privacy, act as a windbreak, define garden spaces, reduce noise, or add year-round greenery. Whether you're looking to block out a view, frame your garden, or just create a lush backdrop, hedges are incredibly versatile.
One of the most underappreciated roles of a hedge? It makes everything in front of it—flowers, trees, garden art—look even better. Think of it as a green stage curtain that lets your garden stars shine.
Pretty much any shrub planted in a row can create a hedge, but the right plant depends on what you want it to do. Here are some of our top picks.
Evergreen Hedges - The Classic Green Wall
Botanical Name: Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd'
Cedar is a favourite for a reason. With its dense, year-round green foliage and low-maintenance nature, it's ideal for privacy. Depending on the type, cedars can grow between 9–14 feet tall, forming a living wall that blocks wind, noise, and prying eyes. It also makes a lovely backdrop for all your other plants.
Botanical Name: Ilex glabra
Looking for a Boxwood alternative? Inkberry Holly is a great choice—especially if you're concerned about Boxwood Blight. This broadleaf evergreen keeps its dark, glossy green leaves all year and can grow up to 8 feet tall if left unpruned. It loves full sun, wet soil, and even acidic conditions. You can trim it to keep it neat or let it grow naturally—either way, it makes a fantastic border or garden divider.
Botanical Name: Taxus cuspidata
With dense, dark green foliage that stays lush all year-round, Yews make excellent hedges for privacy, property lines, and garden backdrops. They’re incredibly versatile—leave them to grow naturally for a softer look or trim regularly for a crisp, formal shape. Yews respond beautifully to pruning, creating a smooth, tailored finish. Just be sure to wear gloves when handling them, and plant them away from children, pets and livestock, as all parts of this striking plant are toxic.
Deciduous Hedges with Drama and Colour
Botanical Name: Spiraea x vanhouttei
Graceful, arching branches that are completely covered in double-white blooms in the Spring make Bridalwreath Spirea a truly stunning hedge plant in the spring. After its spring show, small, glossy green leaves cover this plant until the fall, when its leaves take on beautiful autumn colours.
Bridalwreath Spirea grows to a mature height of 4-9 feet, can tolerate light shade as well as a variety of soil conditions and can be lightly pruned to shape. They are also deer-resistant.
Botanical Name: Cotoneaster lucidus
Peking Cotoneaster may not be flashy, but there are lots of reasons to love this shrub. Its smooth, dark green leaves create a clean, structured look that works beautifully behind flowering plants or along fences. In fall, the leaves turn a fiery red, and black berries appear, which birds snack on through the winter. Growing 5–7 feet tall, this shrub is also a great choice for wind protection and bird habitat.
Still not sure which plants to choose for your hedge? Stop in to see us at Eising Garden Centre and talk to one of our tree and shrub specialists - Zach, Sandy and Donna, or contact one of our landscape design specialists, Emily or Lucas. We’re here to help!
The promise of Spring signals the season of revitalization, even for your wardrobe. Wouldn’t it be great to open your closet and find clothes that go together and that fit? Also, why is it that just when you find the perfect pair of black pants, there is never anything in the closet that seems to go with them?
Reorganizing your closet so that you can find what you need and know what is missing is easier than you might think. Even if you are already organized and can effortlessly pull an outfit together, this is always a great exercise to freshen things up. A revitalized closet just makes life easier! And organizing each year can be a quick, simple task that is quite enjoyable. Especially when you know there’s a payoff at the end of the job - getting something new to add to the mix!
These simple steps will help you see what items you need to update your closet. Then, when you come in to shop, you will know whether you need something with a burst of colour to freshen things up, like a colour block tee, or one of the great graphic tees at Sassyfras. Or maybe you bought a men’s dryweave shirt from us last year, and one just isn’t enough to use for sports, supper out, and that vacation in Spain. Once you follow this plan, you will know, and it will probably save you money.
If you set an afternoon aside, and do this with a friend - in person or on a video chat - time will fly by. Or, just put on some good music now and let’s get started.
1 - Make a Pile
First take everything out of your closet. Empty out drawers and all the things on the shelves above and below, including those birthday presents you meant to give out last year. Put it all on the bed or the floor, depending on the amount of space needed.
2 - Sort
Grab five boxes, bags or bins and label them as: Keep, Donate, Sell, Other and Trash.
As you pick up each article of clothing from the pile, decide which of the five containers it should go into. It can be a tough thing to do if you hate to part with old favourites. This is when you need that friend to support you and ask questions like “How often do you wear this? Is it still useful to you?” If you’re going it alone, and you’re not sure, just put it in the Other bin for now, along with those birthday gifts from last year.
3 - Clean
Don’t let this one scare you! It’s an empty closet, so it will go quickly. Give the closet a good vacuum. Wipe down poles, shelves, drawers and the floor. Maybe even add a quick coat of paint. Just make sure that it’s dry before continuing to the next step!
4 - Organize
Drawing from the Keep pile, start to put these items back into the closet in an organized way - pants in one section, blouses in another, etc. Keep colour in mind as you go so that you can organize items by colour as well. For example, keep all the blue blouses together.
If anything on the shelves was disorganized when you emptied the closet (sweaters, t-shirts, shoes), find containers to gather each of these items into and label them clearly. Even if it’s cardboard boxes with labels written in magic marker for now - you can always find a clear bin later and swap them out if you like.
Once everything that you know you want to keep is back in the closet, take another look in the Other bin. Where those items go may be more clear to you now. If not, put that box into the closet, except those birthday gifts - for heaven’s sake give those away. Or, hang these items up with the hangers facing backwards. If the hangers are still facing backwards in a year, or the Other box still has items in it, it’s time for those things to go!
5 - Remove
Now you’re ready to post the items you’re selling, or put the box in the car to take to a consignment store, along with the box of items that you’re donating.
Take the trash bag out to the curb, pull your shoulders back, and brush your hands together because you’ve done some great work! Doesn’t it feel good?! The final step is your sweet reward.
6 - Revitalize
While a sparkling clean and organized closet does feel good… nothing feels better than a new piece of clothing. It’s time to think about what’s next.
Take a look inside your beautiful closet, and see what you need. It should be so much easier to make a list of items that will revitalise your wardrobe now.
Bring that list with you on your next shopping trip! Of course, Sassyfras is stocked up with lots of great clothing, and ready to help you when Eising Garden Centre reopens on Thursday, March 2 for the 2023 season.
If you would like updates with everything that’s happening at Eising Garden Centre, this is the link to sign up for our fabulous newsletter.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Sassyfras Hours
Beginning March 2, 2023
Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm
Eising Garden Centre
Spring Hours - Beginning March 2, 2023
Monday - Saturday 9am-5pm
Believe it or not, winter is the absolute best time to ponder, dream, and plan your garden and landscape design. Why? Spring is the optimal season to plant and transplant, and with a design in hand, we can hit the ground running once warmer temperatures arrive. Can you plant and transplant throughout the garden season? There are some exceptions, but for the most part the answer is yes. But why not get a head start, and take advantage of having plants established at the start of the growing season? Sure, we have designers sitting by the phone right now on these long, cold winter days but don’t just feel sorry for them - take advantage of the fact that it’s a great time to contact them! Contact details for Eising Garden Centre Landscape Design* are at the end of this post.
You may be asking why you should bother having someone else design your garden? One reason that I have learned the hard way is that it pays off in the long run. I’m probably not the only one who has planted flowers before putting in a patio or walkway, only to rip everything up because of construction, then re-plant all over again.
Besides saving you money on costly mistakes, here are a couple more things to consider:
1. Curb appeal and property value
When most people think of those two concepts, they think about preparing a home for selling. I’m not referring to that. Every day, when you arrive home from work, or errands, wouldn’t it be great to love the way your home and garden looks when you pull into the driveway? That’s curb appeal and property value for your own benefit! However, if you are planning to sell, investing a bit of money in sprucing up the yard definitely impacts the selling price.
2. Design for living
Because we have a few precious months to enjoy our outdoor spaces, landscaping allows you to make better use of the space available. What do you use your space for? What do you need to incorporate into your plan to include those activities? Will you need to install a patio, or create a garden, and where should you put them on the property? Maybe you need to create privacy with an evergreen hedge? Landscape design makes sense of all of it.
Maybe you’re interested in an opportunity to make your garden more environmentally friendly. For example, adding native plants, a birdhouse and birdbath. Perhaps you want to add shade trees to shelter birds, and decrease the need for air conditioning your house in the summer.
3. Structure and a plan are sexier than you think
Lastly, I want to tell you a personal story about my experience hiring a landscape designer. I’m a plant lover and I never considered design. I studied plants, and spent several years joyously collecting all kinds of perennials, shrubs, water and bog plants, and trees.
My garden was chaotic! But I loved the wild looking patchwork quilt of rare and unusual plants scattered within the confines of borders around my property. I nurtured each individual plant, and when I looked at my garden that’s what I saw, individual plants. Then I hired a landscaper to build a bigger pond for my growing collection of water and bog plants.
When the time came to build the pond, he moved my plants to make way for all of the construction. Once that was complete, he placed my plant material back following his design. My plants, the same plants I had before the project, looked completely different. There was harmony in the arrangement.
The overall effect was such an incredible improvement that I could not believe my eyes. It was a whole new garden, and proved the value of good garden design. Hint: it doesn’t involve buying a new, spectacular plant and plunking it into an empty spot, or digging another bed in some random location that gets sunlight. That was my AHA! moment.
Someone who understands plants AND design can take the things on your wish list and make them all come together in a way that just works.
*Eising Garden Centre Landscape Design
Contact Roman Bodnar to set up an appointment: by email here or call 519-428-4607.
Consultation Fee: $175 consultation fee per space (2023 pricing) - for example, the front yard would be considered one space.
What your consultation includes:
1) A knowledgeable staff member will meet with you at the site of the project for up to 1 hour.
2) Any questions and concerns that the customer has will be reviewed and helpful suggestions will be made to ensure a successful project.
3) A simple 3D visual landscape design will be made, to enable the customer to see the potential of their space.
4) A detailed list will be provided to exhibit the needs, amounts and prices of the materials.
5) A 10% discount will be made available on all plant material in the design within 90 days of the consultation purchase.
Our specialty is soft-scaping: plants, soil and mulch. If the design we create warrants it, we will also utilize some armour stone and other natural stone features. We can’t wait to show you the potential of your property! Don’t delay your planning any longer…contact Eising Garden Centre today.