5-Gallon to 36" Box: What Hedge Size Should You Buy?

Species gets the attention, but size at install decides both your budget and your wait — and unlike species, size actually moves the price. Here is what each container buys you, with the per-foot cost at typical three-foot spacing.

5-gallon — the budget starter

2–3 feet tall at install, about $16 per foot. The cheapest way to start a long run; expect three or so seasons before it reads as a wall. Available in all eight species.

15-gallon — the patient path

3–4 feet tall at install, about $43 per foot. Real privacy arrives in 2–3 seasons as growth compounds. The right call for long runs, front gardens, and anyone happy to trade time for money. All eight species.

24-inch box — the sweet spot

6–8 feet on day one, about $145 per foot: eye-level privacy immediately, full height within a season or two. Most residential lines we quote land here — meaningful screening now without estate-level cost. Available in every species except Purple Hopseed and Japanese Boxwood.

30-inch box — columnar instant height

About $280 per foot, offered in Italian Cypress — the move when you want 20-plus feet of narrow Mediterranean column with almost no wait, in a footprint barely three feet wide.

36-inch box — instant walls

10–12 feet the day the crew leaves, about $366 per foot. This is second-story screening with no wait, our Indian Laurel Fig set with machine assistance in a single day. The largest box we plant.