Species we specify regularly in Cork and West Cork, with the honest version of what each one needs. Filter, then add the ones you like to your concept.
Taxus baccata
The best hedging plant in Ireland and the one people wrongly believe is slow. Clips to a crisp edge, tolerates shade and regenerates from old wood, which almost no other conifer does. Foliage and seed are toxic to livestock and dogs.
Pittosporum tenuifolium
Small wavy leaves on near-black stems, light enough to screen without feeling heavy. Takes coastal wind well and clips into loose domes. Cut it in late spring, not autumn.
Hydrangea paniculata
Cone-shaped heads that open cream and age to pink and rust, holding through winter if you leave them. Unlike mophead hydrangeas it flowers on new wood, so a hard prune in March never costs you a season.
Miscanthus sinensis
Movement and winter structure in one plant. Flowers late, then holds a bleached silhouette until you cut it down in February. Give it sun — in shade it flops and never recovers.
Hakonechloa macra
Falls in one direction like water over a step, which is exactly where to use it. One of the few grasses genuinely happy in shade, and unbeatable at the front of a north-facing bed.
Salvia nemorosa
Deep violet spires from June, and again in September if you cut it back hard after the first flush. Needs sun and sharp drainage; sulks in wet clay.
Geranium × Rozanne
Flowers from June to the first frost with no deadheading, and knits between shrubs to close the gaps that make a border look thin. If you plant one perennial, plant this.
Lavandula angustifolia
Wants sun, shelter and drainage far sharper than most Irish gardens offer — plant it in gravel or a raised bed, not in improved clay. Trim after flowering, never into old wood.
Verbena bonariensis
Tall and almost transparent, so it goes at the front of a border as readily as the back. Self-seeds politely and pulls in bees and butterflies all season.
Eryngium × oliverianum
Steel-blue bracts on branching stems, built for exposure and thin soil. A tap root means it hates being moved — put it where you want it and leave it there.
Amelanchier lamarckii
The default small garden tree, and deservedly. White blossom in April, berries the birds take in summer, and reliable orange-red in autumn. Multi-stem forms suit courtyards where a single trunk would feel heavy.
Betula utilis jacquemontii
Grown for the white bark, which is at its best in winter and worth washing once a year. Light canopy, so planting underneath still works. Give it room — the eventual spread surprises people.
Escallonia macrantha
The West Cork shelter-belt workhorse. Glossy evergreen leaves that shrug off salt wind, small pink flowers through summer, and it takes hard clipping. First line of defence on an exposed site.
Griselinia littoralis
Apple-green evergreen hedging that handles salt better than almost anything. Not fully hardy inland — it can burn in a severe frost — so use it near the coast and choose yew or hornbeam further in.
Carpinus betulus
Holds its dead leaves through winter when clipped as a hedge, so it screens year-round without being evergreen. Happier than beech on heavy, wet ground, which covers most of Cork.
Helleborus × hybridus
Flowers from January, which is when a garden most needs it. Cut the old leaves off in December so the flowers are visible and disease does not carry over. Sap irritates skin; toxic if eaten.
Dryopteris affinis
Native, semi-evergreen and genuinely happy in the dry shade under trees where most things fail. Shuttlecock form gives a shaded bed structure without needing flowers.
Olea europaea
Survives in Ireland in a sheltered, sharply drained spot, and looks the part in a gravel or courtyard scheme. It will not fruit reliably here — grow it for the silver canopy and accept that.
Nepeta racemosa
Soft grey-green mounds and lavender-blue flowers that spill over a path edge and forgive being walked into. Shear it after the first flush for a second in late summer. Cats will roll in it.
Alchemilla mollis
Pleated leaves that hold rain in beads, and acid-green froth in June. Tough enough for a family garden and shade-tolerant enough for the north side. Cut it to the ground after flowering or it seeds everywhere.
Phormium tenax
Architectural evergreen blades that stand up to gales and salt, which is why it appears in every coastal garden in West Cork. Use one as a full stop, not five as a hedge.
Hedera hibernica
Native, evergreen and the best thing for a shaded boundary wall or a north-facing fence. It needs cutting back annually or it will get into gutters and roof tiles. Berries are toxic to dogs.
Nothing matches every filter at once. Try removing one.