Hedges are great for screening. So are walls, but both can be claustrophobic in small gardens. Trees let in more light but are also good for privacy – passers-by need to peer between the branches to see anything (they usually don't.) Narrow trees also tend not to have spreading root systems.

If you want a formal or semi-formal hedge you need to plant trees or shrubs of the same size and variety and at the same time, so they will then grow in a more predictable and uniform way.

1. Magnolia grandiflora 'Green Back'

Good points: fast growing, stunning giant white flowers, and much brighter leaves than the duller-leafed old varieties. It grows tall (up to 10 metres) and narrow, unlike the older spreading giants.

Bad points: Needs vigorous early pruning to get it to a hedge shape. Magnolia 'Little Gem' isn't as narrow, and has the brown felted undersides to its leaves, still has beautiful large, scented white flowers but it's a slower and more compact grower (only up to six metres) for those who don't want to prune so ruthlessly.

2. Blueberry ash (Elaeocarpus reticulatus)

Good Points: Beautiful! One of the best screeners possible, as its leaves grow almost to the ground. A tall, fast growing native with fairy like, fringed pink or white spring flowers and deep blue berries that birds adore. Plant in a narrow spot with poor soil and it will grow neatly between five and seven metres. Give it good soil and masses of room and it will grow up to 15 metres.

Bad points: Plant 2-3 metres apart if you want a tall narrow tree. Give it space and it will take it. Be aware that the dropped berries can stain concrete or pavers.

3. Mop Top Robinia

Good points: Naturally neat, even elegant, bright green with with a dense rounded top. They also thrive even in dry, compacted soils and – once established – with neglect. Mop Tops only require pruning every three years or so to keep them dense and compact. Because they are grafted with the same species (Robinia umbraculifera) onto regular R. pseudoacacia they tend to grow very evenly and give you a uniform look remarkable quickly.

Bad points: The branches only begin about 1.5 metres up the trunk, so they are best next to fences, where the fence screens the lower area and the tree, the top.

4. Pencil Cypress

Good points: Loved by cypress lovers except in Italy where they look perfect. They are, however, excellent, neat and fast growers, hardy and make an excellent narrow screen.

Bad points: Ugly if you are not a cypress lover or in Italy.

5. Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Green Pillar', 'Silver Sheen' or 'Screenmaster'

Good points: Narrow, obedient and bright green leaves ('Green Pillar' and 'Screenmaster') or with pale variegated leaves ('Silver Sheen'), unlike the old fashioned ones you may already know or the spreading wild ones we have growing here. They are wonderfully dense screening plants and can be clipped into quite formal shorter hedges. Because of their dainty leaves they can be clipped vigorously without looking hacked about. They have elegant black stems and almost black, scented flowers in spring.

Bad points: No one will ever look at it and say 'Wow!'. They are a workman-like screener, not a fabulous one. They also need regular water though they are drought hardy for short periods.

6. Photinia robusta

Good points: Fast, fast, fast and hardy.

Bad points: Needs much pruning to be neat and is boring, boring, boring even with reddish new growth. (I am biased. Photinia is one of the few plants I can never fall in love with, no matter where it is.) It has large, coarse leaves that look messy after pruning and the dirty cream flowers have an unpleasant smell.

Best for: When you need a very fast, very dense, indestructible hedge.

7. Callistemon spp Bottlebrush

Good points: Fast growing, hardy and can be pruned to a neat narrow shape. Brilliant flowers in red, pink, purple, mauve or white. Ask your nursery for the variety best suited to your area and position.

Bad points: Grows so fast it takes a lot of work to keep it pruned to a neat shape and will look a bit shaggy if you don't. They are also relatively short lived i.e. 20 years not 50-100.

8. Camellia sasanqua varieties

Good points: Many neat, evergreen shrubs with dense to loose foliage depending on variety, all with lovely autumn to mid-winter flowers, single, semi-double or double, in white, pink or red and a light fresh tea fragrance. You can prune them into a tight formal hedge in which case you will lose quite a lot of flowers but they also look wonderful allowed to be a little looser and just prune the odd branch that protrudes into spaces that you want kept clear and they will cover themselves with flowers for about four months every year. Some are suited to being espaliered if you want to create a really narrow screen.

Suitable varieties include: 'Pure Silk' (semi-double white with a subtle pink edge), 'Exquisite' (pale shell pink, very large single flowers with a prominent boss of golden stamens; suitable for hedging or espalier work and highly scented), 'Plantation Pink' (soft, medium pink, single flowers), 'Setsugekka' (large, frilly, white, single flowers with undulating petals) and there are many more.

Bad points: Make sure you choose a variety that is upright and compact for your best hedging effect and the fallen petals look quite gorgeous on grass but they can make a bit of a slimy mess on driveways or paths. They also only grow to about 2 metres, so are best for 'close to the house' screens.

9. Lillipillies (Acmena and Szyzigium spp)

Good points: Fast growing, densely foliaged Australian natives that range from dwarf to very tall trees. They'll tolerate dappled shade, too. Select for suitable size and ensure you have a variety that is resistant to psyllid attack. New foliage is coppery to red coloured, fluffy white flowers followed by berries in a range of colours from magenta to deep blue-purple.

Bad points: Some varieties are prone to psyllid attack, some will be too short or too tall – read the label, Mabel, and be guided by your nursery staff. Lillipillies also need good soil and watering in dry spots.

. picked the first branch of this year's camellias – another six months of pink, red, white and the odd ruffle to go.

. wished I had remembered to plant garlic this year but I'm glad I planted Russian garlic a decade ago as it's still multiplying so we will not be garlicless this winter.

. made rhubarb tart while the rhubarb is still putting out new stems – we have 'winter' varieties which means they don't die back but they just vanish when you pick them till warmth returns in spring.

. squeezed the limes on every tree, hoping one of them might have ripened enough for lime tart (they haven't).

. remembered to pick the chillies before the frost zaps them first.

. discovered someone has harvested the quinces before I remembered them – I suspect the bower birds but this may be unfair as it may have been the parrots.