I am very likely wrong, but it reminds me of my Snowbrush, Ceanothus velutinus, native to western NA

windberry

I never thought of Ceanothus. In Australia I grew Ceanothus 'Pacific Blue' - totally different, and if I recall correctly, scented foliage. C. velutinus leaves have minute glandular teeth along the edges, which this doesn't have.

So yes, I believe you are correct in saying probably wrong ID. :-)))

Thanks for the I/P though.

Fof

Maybe Griselinia littoralis?

Jay

Nice one, my man. I think you have it nailed.

Once I take possession, I will await their "flowers", photograph for my achives, then out they will go.

I will replace with plants that are loved by bumblebees, bees and any and all other insects and birds.

Thank you

Fof

You're welcome. I don't know why people would plant only 1 species of shrub everywhere? How boring. The foliage is nice but that's about it. Best wishes for your new garden/oasis!

I don't know if it is a British thing, but you see this a lot.

I had a place, about 40 years ago, with quite a large garden, completely surrounded with a Laurel hedge, about 12' (4m) high. One of the Prunus lauroceracus cultivars. Not, unfortunately, Laurus nobilis. It took 2 days to trim, then a small lorry to get rid of the trimmings. I did think of removing them, but decided 2 days a year was better than weeks of hard graft. One of the few benefits was that they also acted as a good screen for my crop of smoking herbs.

Haha, I also have had to make screens for my smoking herbs, and train plants to grow sideways. It's kind of fun, stealth gardening, and exciting.

Sorry, bit late today. It’s the Griselinia. Ubiquitous and valuable seaside hedge shrub due to being a year round indestructible green foil and impervious to salt. It has an RHS AM. If it’s a hedge, that’s why it’s all the same, and I’d hesitate to remove it given its design and windbreak function. What would you replace it with? Countries have garden styles and traditions and hedges are part of ours. In our tiny gardens a hedge provides privacy, shelter and a frame for the garden picture.

If, however, they’re just individual shrubs I’d keep just a couple. They are tough, evergreen and provide shelter. I can’t say I’ve ever seen the flowers but apparently birds like the fruit. But you need both sexes for that.

thefof - LOL -“ weeks of hard graft”. That has a completely different meaning here in the USA.