Neighbours have completely destroyed my hedge, what to plant instead?

I think your neighbours should be paying to replace your hedge. Their fence also looks a bit high - does it meet building regs? Regarding what to plant, laurels are quick growing evergreens and can be pruned to shape - there is a marbled leaf one which is very attractive. Or how about Photinia, evergreen and very hardy with red tipped leaves and easy to grow.

I would second Photinia as a speedy grower. Ours are tolerant of being shaped regularly and have made a thick hedge in just a couple of year. It has white flowers in the Spring too.

Or maybe cover the fence with a few different varieties of clematis for year round interest? They grow fast and can be clipped to make a dense covering.

Finally, having just taken out several pyracantha bushes here, don’t plant anything prickly!! I’m replacing the pyracantha with cotoneaster - evergreen, blossom and berries, no thorns - but it isn’t particularly quick growing so might not suit you.

Take the opportunity to make sure the soil is in tip-top condition. I think your neighbours should pay for a replacement too, and that includes work to your soil.
Good luck.

What was the hedge before it was hacked?

Won't it just grow back in the spring? Or are you going to have the remains of the old plants dug out?

What about ivy? Evergreen, fast growing;, easy to cut back and wouldn't take up as much border space as a hedge. No showy flowers, though. Did you want a hedge that flowers?

Evergreen Clematis? Cotoneaster?

P.S I have a herringbone cotoneaster and it is pretty fast growing.. Very amenable to shaping, though and bees absolutely adore its insignificant looking flowers.

Hi Dazy
So sorry but don't despair .
I've planted a very successful hedge to shield the tip next door.
I bought some Quince /Japonica plants and planted them in rich compost with Vitax Q4 sprinkled in .
They are pure white.
They've grown very quickly and made a nice thick hedge .
They can be in a beautiful rich orange or a soft pink .
Mine were only a fiver each in the bargain section in our nursery .
But I'd expect to pay about £ 10 -15 per plant .
At the moment , I'm trying cuttings to screen another area .
You can make a hedge from most plants .
I prefer flowering ones as I dislike Photinia and Laurel .

That looks terrible damage although we haven’t seen a before picture
They should be paying

Thanks everyone. It was ivy and something else before.
It looks like they're going to just pay for a tidy up , not a new plantation of anything. I want height, these are particularly nasty neighbours and I'd like to ensure they won't be looking into my garden.

The fence is high and I'm glad of this , though not high enough to block that window. I will look at Phitonia , not heard of that one.
I've got laurels on the other side , not sure how long it'll take.

Agree that they need to pay for something new to go into the place but remove the ivy roots as it will be futile planting something else only for it to be choked by ivy in a year or two

If the hedge is on your land then I don’t understand how your neighbours think they have the right to destroy it? Can you give us a bit more info?

Thanks everyone, I'll look at your suggestions. Here's what it looked like before, to the right of this picture. It was a bit bushy and high but now it's mostly gone.

merlotgran the neighbours moved out a year ago, while builders extended their house , huge hideous extension. She's an architect ironically and works for the local council. Before she commenced building works she demanded that I remove my entire ivy hedge from the roots. I said no and that I would keep it off her property but that they were welcome to trim from their side. She wasn't happy.
Halfway through the works I watched the builders climbing over to my side and hacking it. Captured it on camera. Tried to contest but was told " not to worry, we're trimming it and making it good" by the manager of the building company. He then told the owners that I gave the go ahead to cut it down.
It's such a drama. They are sorry and will pay, though not for new plants and she's still going on about wanting the ivy permanently removed.

Dont grow clematis montana as the weight will soon destroy their fence and the neighbours will likely become nastier, in fact nothing that needs support from the fence

An ivy hedge is not neighbourly and I agree with her, it needs to be dealt with, permanently

Honestly, I would prefer contoneaster franchetti but it is slow growing, makes a beautiful non-prickly berried hedge. The neighbours being nasty would warrant some leylandii, which I hate, you would need someone in to keep it trimmed to the height of the ugly cheap fence. Keep your side neatly trimmed and the other side will poke into their garden, through that horrible trellis. Sweet revenge

As long as the roots aren’t completely dead, your existing hedge, which was well established, will grow to cover the gap within a couple of seasons. I’d be inclined to put something up to temporarily screen the worst part over the summer, and see what happens. A bean trellis or similar would work.

Do be aware that any hedge taller than 6ft is covered by the High Hedges Act and your neighbour who is council wise could make you keep it to 6ft. Should that happen you could always grow bamboo which is not covered by the Act. However to stop it invading you would need to dig and line a trench to contain its roots and it’s expensive. I have one 18ft high to block the neighbour’s ugly garage out.

What a hideous extension. How could permission have been given on an extension so high. I dread new people moving in next door as I would hate being hemmed in if thats the height they allow now. However your hedge looked as if it was way over the 6ft as does that trellis. The bottom of hedge looks ok, it all needs cutting right back and it will shoot up, but 6ft is all you're allowed.

Another Photinia fan here. Check out pink crispy as well as red Robin. I’ll do a photo tomorrow when it’s light ( or when I can post photos again!). I’m going to make a hedge of it and put some in pots. I can’t grow flowers in my garden because of the shade so the red or pink tips add welcome colour. It seems to be idiot proof, too ( which I need!)

She may techncally be a qualified architect but she is totally lacking any sense of design or appropriateness. She should be limited to designing toilet blocks in back streets.