Plants as privacy screens

You can eat everything if you like But not everything is digestible or even poisonous. It’s not just about the cherry laurel!!!

You can eat everything - just sometimes only once

Every evergreen hedge is poisonous whether boxwood, cherry laurel, thuja, or privet. For butterflies and co, natural gardens with tall grasses, nettles, etc. are advantageous. Such proximity to nature surely also pleases the neighbors.

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I’ll quote:
"‘Anyone who plants cherry laurel hedges is committing a crime against nature,’ NABU managing director Sönke Hofmann makes clear, ‘even a concrete wall is ecologically more valuable; at least lichens and mosses grow on it over time.’ At best, birds find a little shelter among the leaves, but the plant cannot feed them."

The article is obviously a bit exaggerated – nevertheless, I personally find that far too few people think about what they are actually planting in their garden and what consequences that can have.

The article is nonsense. My cherry laurel is affected by leaf feeding from probably the vine weevil just like any other plant, ants also feed on it, as Wikipedia states, and I can observe that here. Furthermore, I have never had problems composting cherry laurel. NABU should rather watch out that its "reputation" does not go down the drain because of such silly statements. And who even cares about ecology in the garden? Constant mowing and leaves are immediately removed, exotic plants, fertilizer and poison spraying, and now poor cherry laurel is supposed to be to blame for everything? By the way, every plant is poisonous, and what is deadly for one is breakfast for another. Rabbits, for example, can tolerate almost everything, including cherry laurel, thuja, yew, squirrels eat poisonous mushrooms... etc.

So I can confirm from personal experience that the leaves of the cherry laurel compost worse than other material.

You don't need to take it personally. No one has to justify what they plant here either. It would just be nice to think about it from other perspectives than "fast-growing and evergreen." - one day you realize that you don't need 99% at all -

Thank you for the extensive feedback. Is there any reason against privet? Can someone recommend a "variety" here? Thank you