Unusual plants for hedges. Hedge - what is best to make it from?

Hedge- an effective decoration of any site, widely used in decorative landscaping. The plants that form it have special requirements. It is desirable that they be fast-growing and perennial. An evergreen hedge will continue to decorate a garden or yard in the off-season. Let's discuss which shrubs are best suited for forming this element of landscape design. What needs to be done to make the green wall dense and beautiful.

General requirements for plants

This element of landscape design is used very widely: it can play the role of a divider within a site, frame paths, surround various objects, and complement architectural forms. Often a hedge serves as an alternative to a conventional fence. Working with living, growing material, there are ample opportunities for experiments. You can grow a compact, low and dense hedge. By choosing a high wall and choosing plants with thorns for it, you can get a completely impenetrable fence.

Advice. If the height of a hedge can be selected based on individual preferences, then the width traditionally does not exceed 80 cm. This is important from the point of view of decorativeness and the feasibility of using the area of the site.

Requirements for the selection of plants for linear plantings include a number of important parameters. If its length is large, the unpretentiousness of the shrubs comes to the fore. Painstaking care for each bush, when there are several hundred of them, can forever discourage the desire to decorate your area with hedges. In the middle zone, we must not forget about the frost resistance of perennials.

Choose unpretentious crops for hedges

Planting new plants every spring to replace frozen ones is not only expensive and difficult, but can also deprive the entire hedge of its attractiveness. Along with these most important characteristics, you should also pay attention to the following indicators:

Speed of growth and development.
Availability of flowers and fruits.
Possibility of cutting, shaping.
Duration of the decorative season.
No uncontrolled growth.

There is a special type of hedge using climbing or plaiting plants. You can arrange trellises for them or leave them to curl along the fence. This kind vertical gardening, located along the perimeter of the site, forms beautiful cascades of greenery, creating a kind of hedge.

You can plant clematis or cultivated vines, which bloom for a long time; large corollas are very attractive. Such a flowering vertical hedge has every chance of becoming the main decoration of the garden. The advantage of climbing plants is their rapid development; in the second year, a rather large clump is formed, almost completely hiding the area from prying eyes. In addition, a vertical hedge takes up little space in width, which can be important for narrow areas.

Barberry

Fast-growing crops for hedges

Barberry is very often used to create hedges. This perennial is very flexible; it can be used to form a low, neat border hedge trimmed along one line. Or place the plants in a more spacious planting pattern, allowing them to develop into tall, thorny, impenetrable hedges. Barberry has earned its popularity due to the following qualities:

unpretentiousness;
frost resistance;
rapid formation of green mass;
responsiveness to haircut;
the presence of thorns;
highly decorative.

Hawthorn is no less often used by landscapers to create hedges. In addition to the decorative qualities that this plant boasts, its edible fruits are healing for the heart and blood vessels. The plant is characterized by the following qualities important for phytodesign:

highly decorative;
low maintenance requirements;
easy to form;
unpretentiousness to growing conditions.

Adult hawthorn plants are frost-resistant, but young, fragile bushes may need light shelter, especially in the first year of life.

cotoneaster

The following types of shrubs, excellent for creating linear plantings of various configurations, also deserve close attention:

Snowberry.
Honeysuckle (various types).
Forsythia.

Evergreens for hedges

The climate of the vast majority of the territories of our country requires the use of only coniferous trees as evergreens. The advantages of such plants are quite obvious, they are attractive all year round, their lush branches are well suited for linear plantings. The aroma of their resins is different useful properties for people's health.

Coniferous plants are durable; if you plan to create a green hedge once for many years, then this choice will be the best. However, most coniferous crops grow rather slowly and require a special approach when planting. There is no seasonal change in the color of the foliage that colors the landscape, and there will be no flowering. This fact must be taken into account. Let's look at those conifers that are best suited for hedges.

Norway spruce

Breeders have bred many decorative varieties ate. They differ in the shade of the needles, the speed and vigor of growth, and the shape of the crown. The choice is quite wide; using various varietal forms of Norway spruce you can get a low hedge consisting of beautiful spruce paws. Or grow a powerful, human-sized, thorny barrier, distinguished by its decorative effect. As an option, you can plant plants of the “Little Jam” or “Echiniformis” variety, which have crowns in the form of a hemisphere or pillow, at some distance from each other. Spruce planted as a hedge meets a number of requirements for this element of garden design:

ease of care;
frost resistance;
undemanding to soil fertility and composition;
pleasant spruce aroma;
the ability to create a barbed barrier;
amenable to formation.

Thuja is rightfully popular among landscape designers and site owners. Its naturally even crowns often do not need to be formed artificially. Even planted as a simple single-row hedge, thuja perfectly decorates the space. However, this southern plant is vulnerable to severe frosts. Depending on the growing region, it may require shelter.

Juniper comes in many varieties and varieties. From creeping plants to fairly tall representatives. Its branches are capable of creating dense weaves, well suited for living fences.

Planting and caring for hedges

Particular attention should be paid to the purchase of seedlings coniferous plants. Recommended to purchase planting material from a nursery rather than taking young plants from their natural habitat.

Planting a hedge

Since conifers are characterized by a very close symbiosis with other organisms, they do not take root well in a new place. It is highly advisable to purchase seedlings with a closed root system, with a lump of earth. This way, at least part of the soil community will be preserved and establishment will be much faster. Coniferous seedlings are usually selected at least 4 years old. Whereas deciduous shrubs can be planted already in the 2-3rd year of their life.

Preparing for planting plants in a hedge is not much different from working with other types of shrub plantings. A planting trench with an average depth of 50 cm is dug along the entire length of the future green wall. For a single-row hedge, the width is approximately equal to the depth. The planting pattern differs significantly depending on the specific type of plant. Most shrubs widely used for making hedges are placed at a distance of 25 cm from each other.

Advice. When planting an evergreen hedge of coniferous plants, manure should not be added to the planting trench.

Plant care is standard for shrubs. It must be remembered that the roots of crops growing in a hedge consume a significant amount of nutrients from the soil. Because they are planted quite tightly. This fact must be taken into account when calculating fertilizer consumption for other plants growing on the site.

The main difficulty in caring for a hedge is its regular cutting. After all, a free-growing hedge does not always meet aesthetic and design needs. Plants need to be trimmed at least once a season, but usually this is done more often. Properly formed plants form a well-leafed clump, never becoming bare in the lower part.

Important! To reduce the frequency of cutting hedges and reduce labor costs, you can use special chemicals, inhibiting plant growth - retardants.

Planting a hedge is not at all difficult. By selecting fast-growing crops for its formation, you can get a wonderful fence in the shortest possible time. A hedge is superior to conventional fences in many ways. After all, it traps dust, muffles sounds, saturates the air with oxygen, and creates a pleasant shadow. Among other things, such a fence is very aesthetic and attractive in appearance.

Plants for hedges: video

Hedge: photo

A summer cottage looks cozy and well-groomed only when the owners take care not only of the house, but also of the yard. In this option, it is impossible to do without green spaces along the perimeter of the territory. A hedge instead of a stone fence looks much nicer and pleases the eye with its greenery almost all year round.

To make such plantings look beautiful and harmonious, you need to familiarize yourself with some rules of landscape design and answer the following questions:

How much area are you going to plant?

Why do you need plantings - for beauty or to protect your summer cottage?

What plant height do you prefer?

You also need to study the features of plant care, the composition of the soil on your site, the climate in the region and many other nuances. Let's try to figure out together what can be planted along the fence on your summer cottage.

Important! If you have a small area, do not overload it with massive, bulky plantings.

Derain

Beautiful all year round. In the summer, its lush crown is decorated with cream and white flowers, and in the fall, against a background of orange, green and purple leaves, clusters of black, red, gray and white fruits stand out. In winter, the red, yellow or green bark of the plant also looks impressive. Thanks to these unique qualities, a fence made of white wood plants decorates many summer cottages.

Important! Derain is easy to shape and cut. A fence made of it perfectly protects from dust.

There are several types of wood that will look great around the perimeter of your summer cottage:

"Elegantissima"- a common variety of white wood. It has a lush, luxurious crown of green leaves with a white border, which turn pink in the fall. A hedge from Elegantissima is perfect for fencing a summer cottage. If you plant it along the fence, then quickly enough you will have a dense living three-meter wall.

Derain has wide leaves that change color every season. The brown leaves turn yellow when ripe and turn red in the fall.

Derain "Sibirika" is a low bush that grows no more than one and a half meters in height. It has bright green leaves and red bark that looks stunning against a snowy background in winter.

"Sibirika variegata" can grow up to two meters in height and delight the eye with its colorful colors all four seasons. In spring, the shrub produces red shoots; in summer, a green crown appears on it. A hedge made from this type of wood looks best in the fall, when the bushes turn purple.

But the crown of the tree does not change throughout the growing season. The green leaves are framed with a yellow border and therefore appear golden. A hedge made from Shpeta tree will delight you with its bright colors throughout the year.

A huge advantage in favor of derain is its unpretentiousness. Derain takes root well and grows on any soil, withstands both drought and excess moisture, and is frost-resistant. It is advisable to plant it in sunny areas, but partial shade will not prevent the turf from growing and developing. This plant actually has no diseases, and pests are indifferent to it.

When you plant turf in a permanent habitat, you need to consider several points. In order for it to take root well and take root, you need to provide the plant with nutrients. To do this, add compost and humus to the prepared hole. If you want to plant turf in the soil next to groundwater, then make drainage in the area.

When purchasing a ready-made seedling, ask the seller for a plant that is no more than four years old. Such trees take root better and produce more shoots. Also pay attention to the roots of the seedling. If they are dry, then before planting, dip them in water for several hours. Thanks to this procedure, the seedling will take root faster and better.

For garden decor will fit perfectly. This species is distinguished by ribbed arched purple shoots; it wonderfully decorates the garden and yard. That is why Thunberg barberry is in demand when forming hedges in summer cottages. Barberry shoots are covered with flexible spines.

However, this species does not tolerate frost well, so it is only good for planting in the southern regions. The height of the bush is from 0.5 to 1.5 m. Thunberg barberry has bright green leaves in summer, which turn bright red in autumn. The fruits of this species have medicinal properties, they ripen by mid-autumn.

Important! Barberry does not go well with derain, because they have a very different requirements to the composition of the soil and the amount of watering. Don't plant them next to each other.

Thuja

Beautiful evergreen Ideal for hedges. For this purpose, two types of thuja are used - eastern and western.

The eastern one has a dense crown in the form of a cone. A narrow thuja fence will make any small area cozy. But before planting, it is necessary to calculate the number of plants that will be required for a given area. The calculation is made according to the principle: 1 seedling per 1 linear meter.

Thuja will carefully protect your summer cottage from dust, wind and smoke. It is frost-resistant, adult specimens do not require shelter for the winter, tolerate shearing well and are not of interest to pests. There are 14 varieties of western thuja that are suitable for creating a hedge. Let's list the most popular ones.

It grows up to 5 m in height, the crown diameter reaches one and a half meters. This variety grows quickly, adding 35 cm in height and 10-15 in width annually. Thuja "Brabant" loves moist soil. After a short period of time it will become a dense living wall. This variety needs to be pruned twice a year - in March and August.

"Emerald". A tall variety with a dense cone-shaped crown. In a living wall, the tree crowns do not close. "Smaragd" does not grow as quickly as "Brabant", so this variety will not need to be cut often. It does not tolerate drought well and requires frequent watering. Thuja "Smaragd" is perfect for a free-growing hedge.

A very spectacular plant, reaching a height of 7 m. It grows 20 cm annually. The crown is column-shaped, narrow, reaching a diameter of one and a half meters. This variety of thuja tolerates frost well, but during periods of drought it requires frequent watering.

Thuja is called a variety for the lazy. It should be cut no more than twice a year. The tree grows very slowly - up to 12 cm per year. This variety of thuja is very “curly”.

"Fastigiata". The shoots of the needles are pressed tightly against the trunk, the crown has the shape of a column, green, soft, with a characteristic odor. This thuja is shaped like a cypress. Grows quickly, reaches 6 m in height. Excellent for creating high fences, reliably protects a summer cottage and takes up very little space.

Thuja feels good in both sun and partial shade. But do not plant thuja in the sun so that it does not dry out. You need to plant thuja to create a living wall in spring or autumn. A plant planted in the fall will have time to prepare for frost. Plant trees around the perimeter of the site at intervals of 1-2 m.

If you are planning a two-tier fence, then plant the seedlings closer to each other, with an interval of 50 cm, and 1 m between rows. The holes for trees should be 80 cm deep and slightly wider than the earthen ball on the roots of the tree. Before planting, add peat, sand and mineral fertilizers to the hole.

An excellent option is to plant thujas along the fence at the dacha.

Hedge made from - budget and nice solution. In nature, there are 90 varieties of this shrub. Blooming living wall from spirea it looks simply magical. Correct fit will delight the eye with its beauty and will not require any costs in the future. A dense spirea fence will suit any landscape and design of a summer cottage.

Combinations different types spirea will make it possible to create spectacular hedge no more than 1.5 m high, which will bloom for a long time. It is quite dense and dense, reliably protecting the territory from prying eyes and the penetration of animals. Spiraea grows quickly without losing its beautiful appearance.

Withered flowers do not need to be removed, they fall off on their own and do not spoil appearance hedge. Spiraea grows well in any soil. Drooping varieties do not need pruning. The bushes will bloom very profusely, forming a beautiful rounded crown shape. There are varieties of spirea that keep a golden or red crown all year round. These unpretentious shrubs are perfect for your hedge.

A living fence can grow up to three meters in height without pruning. The viburnum-leaved variety has purple branches and leaves; it will be a wonderful decoration for your summer cottage.

Flowering of the bladderwort occurs in June. Its flowers look like white baskets and exude a wonderful fresh aroma. For contrast, golden bladderwort is often used, which has yellow foliage or a golden border on the leaves. It shines with bright colors from spring until late autumn. This magical plant grows very quickly.

Bush willow

You can quickly and easily build a green fence from bush willow.

It is best to make preparations in the fall. To do this, you need to buy strong one-year-old shoots and leave them under the snow or in a cold basement for the winter. In the spring, there is no need to wait for the shoots to awaken - prepare the cuttings before the growing season begins.

Since willow takes root well, you can plant mature trees in the spring. To make the fence look neat, choose seedlings of the same length. Newly planted willows need support - for this you can use strong pegs of the same length as the seedlings.

There are two ways to plant shrub willow.

1. Dig holes 50 cm deep. The gap between plants should be 15-20 cm. Plant trees strictly vertically.

2. To make the fence strong in the future, you can plant willows in pairs at an angle of 45 degrees. On each twig you need to trim the bark and tie the bare spots to each other; when the willows grow together, the wall will become impassable. To enhance the strength of a hedge, intertwine young shoots as they grow.

In the fall, replace diseased and dead cuttings with healthy ones. The shoots need to be trimmed to the selected height so that the hedge has a neat appearance and the trees do not grow to gigantic proportions. When intertwining seedlings, tilt them carefully; young flexible rods are easy to break. Willows love water, so make sure they get plenty of water. Shrub willow is a wonderful plant for planting along a fence in a country house.

A living wall made of soft and beautiful looks in the summer. This plant reliably covers any area from prying eyes. Lilac is unpretentious and does not require special care; it adapts well to any climate. The bushes grow quickly, allowing you to form a hedge up to 3 m in height.

You can make it from lilac flowers beautiful bouquets, and breaking off branches only benefits the bush.

Lilacs do not need systematic pruning. Due to the lush and abundant flowering it can be used for fences of different heights, and also to divide the area into different zones. Lilac is quite resistant to diseases and pests.

What can you plant near lilacs? The experience of gardeners suggests that this shrub harmonizes well with thuja and juniper.

Chokeberry

Today, hedges from chokeberry(chokeberry). Its advantages are its wonderful appearance, lush, dense crown, small growth and ease of care. This plant can throw out many shoots that quickly cover empty spaces.

Chokeberry performs an excellent protective function and will not allow animals or uninvited guests into your area; it will retain dirt and dust if your dacha is located near a highway. Chokeberry creates a reliable environmental barrier that filters out all harmful gases.

Such a hedge cannot be grown in a year, and this is the main disadvantage of rowan.

Chokeberry chokeberry produces useful and delicious fruits which are used in medicine. Beautiful bushes chokeberries along the fence will become the highlight of your garden and will delight the eye with their magical charm for many years.

Hawthorn thorns are an excellent protection for the site from uninvited guests. The shrub has deep roots and strong trunks, making it a perennial plant.

Did you know? There are hawthorn plantings that are more than 300 years old.

Hawthorn is frost-resistant and unpretentious to different types of soil. It feels great both in the sun and in partial shade.

More than 1,200 species of hawthorn are known. The following types are best suited for creating a hedge: black hawthorn, terrible hawthorn (received its name for its long thorns and white fruits), monopistillate hawthorn, soft hawthorn, blood-red hawthorn, smooth hawthorn, fan-shaped hawthorn.

Creating a hawthorn hedge consists of planting, pruning and trimming. 2-3 year old seedlings are dug into a permanent place and there they are brought to the required parameters. By the age of 20, the hedge reaches two meters in height. To ensure its density, the branches of nearby bushes are spliced together using trellises.

Such hedges are thinner than usual, reaching 40 cm in width, and when planted in two rows they can grow up to 1 m in thickness. The optimal width of hawthorn hedges is considered to be 70-75 cm, since fungal diseases quickly spread in “walls” that are too thick.

Perfectly suited for a hedge. It must be planted in a timely manner and according to a strict algorithm. If the process of planting irgi is carried out with errors, then a fertile and lush hedge will not be achieved.

Let's consider two types of landing:

1. Sow the seeds and the seedlings will grow on their own.

2. Plant ready-made seedlings.

The first option will take more time and effort, but with its help you can grow strong seedlings for a hedge. Serviceberry seeds need to be sown in pre-prepared greenhouses, watered abundantly and grown for two years.

If you do not have the strength, time and experience to grow seedlings yourself, then buy ready-made ones. But then you need to carefully approach their choice. A proper seedling is considered to be a tree with a length of 40 to 70 cm in height and a trunk 1 cm in diameter. The length should be half the trunk up to 35 cm.

Rose hip

If you decide to make a hedge from, then it is best to plant the bushes in two rows in a checkerboard pattern. The distance between seedlings should be 60-80 cm. Due to the rapid growth of rose hips, in a couple of years you will get a solid prickly fence.

Rose hips develop roots well and quickly; they produce many shoots that grow in all directions. If you are interested in a strict hedge shape, then the bushes will have to be trimmed.

Before planting, the soil will need to be moistened, and only then the seedling is lowered into the hole. Be sure to straighten the roots and sprinkle them with soil, pour two buckets of water over each bush.

You can plant rose hips in spring or autumn in a sunny area. Shrubs along the fence will not only reliable protection, but also an excellent decoration for a summer cottage.

To fence your territory, it is not at all necessary to delve into the specifics of construction. An excellent alternative for many has become a hedge, which can not only hide the owners’ property from prying eyes, but also complement the landscape design. In addition, with the help of evergreens perennial plants all zones can be distributed. Creating a fast-growing perennial hedge at your dacha is quite simple. If you regularly care for it, it will not lose its decorative qualities for several decades.

You can choose almost any plant to form a living fence, but not all of them will grow quickly. Some require a lot of attention, constant feeding, frequent watering and certain climatic conditions. In addition, their growth rate per year is quite small, so the “living” fence will grow for many years. You can go another way - pick up fast growing plants, which develop quite quickly and from them you can simply form a fence of any shape and height.

Among the advantages of a hedge are:

climbing plants quickly entwine walls and supports;
if necessary, they will hide the shortcomings of the structure;
even with modest landscape design you can transform the entire territory for little money;
can be planted even in narrow places;
formation of shape and height as plants grow;
minimum amount of area.

There are disadvantages to almost everything, so hedges are no exception. These include regular care. If climbing plants were chosen for the fence, then in winter the fence will be translucent as the leaves fall in the fall.

When growing a green fence, it is worth remembering that it can be in the form of:

curb (up to 1 m);
hedge (1-3 m);
living wall (3-6 m).

The successful formation of a perennial hedge depends on the correct selection of plants, planting and caring for them.

As you know, with the help of flowers you can create flower beds and create alpine coaster. But if it is necessary to perform zoning or grow a high hedge, then it is necessary to use other types:

climbing plants;
shrubs;
decorative trees.

Shrubs are especially popular, from which amateurs and professionals create entire compositions:

fences;
curbs;
geometric figures;
animals.

Another option for decorating a site is willow. In this case, you can choose not only ordinary varieties. If you have children, then with the help of a hedge you can fence off the children's area and calmly go about your business. At the same time, parents will be completely calm about their kids, since they will not be able to run away anywhere. Even a small child will not be able to get through the dense thickets.

Using simple shrubs will allow you to realize absolutely any idea. In addition, there is no need to resort to the help of designers; just read the tips and thematic articles that are available on our website.

Considering all the options, you need to plan and imagine your hedge. To narrow down your choice, you need to use some criteria:

Height.
Width.
Sheared or molded shape.
Free growing.
Care requirements.
Climatic conditions.

Thanks to this, you can quickly determine which plants are suitable for forming a hedge. Undoubtedly, among the advantages deciduous plants are flowers. Many of them can bloom for a fairly long period of time, be honey plants, be used for traditional medicine, and also bear fruit.

These include:

acacia;
black chokeberry;
elder;
derain;
honeysuckle;
viburnum;
jasmine mock orange;
currant;
lilac;
maple and others.

If you choose plants in favor hardwood, then it is necessary to take into account one important point. The hedge should bloom in early spring, and shed leaves in late autumn.

When choosing a single-tier height, you can significantly save on the required area for forming a hedge. In this case, it is worth giving preference to those types of trees whose branches can grow from the base of the trunk: linden, poplar and maple. If the area allows, then it is better to make a multi-tiered green fence. Not only can it become a fence, but it will also protect a large area of land from the winds.

For a hedge up to 3 m high, you can choose elm, poplar, linden, willow, and rowan.
For hedges with a height of 1.5 to 2.5 m, the most often chosen are cotoneaster, barberry, golden currant, and alpine honeysuckle.
Suitable for hedges from 70 cm to 1.5 m are mock orange, Bessey cherry, steppe almond, Japanese spirea.
For borders you need to choose dwarf plants the above varieties.

If you choose the right trees and shrubs, you can create an original multi-tiered green fence. They will not cover each other, but at the same time beautiful combination flowers and the order of flowering will constantly delight you.

Shrubs have many benefits. They grow quite quickly, have a dense crown, and are easy to care for. It is worth noting that their main advantage is their flexibility in shaping. In addition, a wide variety of types allows you to solve several problems at once. If you need to further protect your property, choose specimens with thorns. They must be planted on the outside of the living fence. You can also consider fruit-bearing varieties, the fruits of which can be used for food.

Among the simplest and most accessible shrubs, the 3 most common can be distinguished:

Dogwood. An unpretentious shrub that can be planted even in the shade. This is an excellent option for forming an external hedge. In addition to beautiful leaves, dogwood bears fruit. Its fruits can be eaten or used in folk medicine. Dogwood can be planted both in spring and autumn, but no less than a month before frost.
Barberry. Grows in absolutely any soil. Thanks to the thorns it will serve additional protection for the fence. There are both low-growing and tall varieties, which allows you to form both borders and high fences. Blooms beautifully. As in the case of dogwood, the fruits are suitable for home preparation.
Turn. Does not require special care and careful pruning. The impenetrable dense crown will not allow a single person to pass through. The fruits can be picked even after frost and used for preparations. The hedge has an unusual beautiful view in spring, during the flowering period. A pleasant almond aroma will spread throughout the entire area.

Some specimens do not tolerate top removal well. This is worth considering if the hedge is to be trimmed and shaped.

A significant advantage of conifers is their green crown all year round. Undoubtedly, this is an ideal option for forming the main fence. Also, tall trees can be used for the main part, and shrubs can provide protection and decorative properties in the foreground. Today, when planning landscape design, the following options are used:

Thuja occidentalis. The most common and unpretentious plant, which is suitable for almost any climate in our country. Minimal maintenance and the absence of annual haircuts can also be included in the list of advantages.
Common spruce. Most often chosen to form a free-growing hedge. Professionals prefer to shape it into various shapes and forms.
Juniper. The plant has bluish needles, which are pleasant to the touch. To ensure a strong hedge, it is important to use seedlings that are at least 5 years old.

To grow a fence, especially a high one, from coniferous trees, you need to spend a lot of time and effort. In most cases, they are chosen in combination with other fast-growing options.

Among a fairly large assortment of shrubs and trees, there are also those that should not be included in the list of “favorites”. Thus, some breeds will not be able to form a dense crown, which is very important for hedges. These include varietal lilac. Her lower part will become exposed every year. Despite the fact that viburnum is among suitable options, because of improper care can die very quickly. Therefore, it is not suitable for a dacha.

Quite often, rose hips are chosen to form a hedge. Only experienced gardeners they know that its root system will grow in different directions. Because of this, in a few years the entire area will be filled with root suckers. Another erroneous option would be the weigela bush. It is not suitable for every climate, so it is worth familiarizing yourself with its features.

These options should not be completely excluded. They may become excellent option for the formation of a multi-tiered hedge.

A carefully thought out and developed hedge layout is a guarantee of beauty for many years. Next, marking is done. For accuracy use:

roulette;
cord;
pegs.

The depth of the grooves should be at least 40 cm. It is also worth considering the number of rows: when forming one row, an area of up to 60 cm is involved, for two rows - 1 m. Equally important is the width between the bushes, which should be about 25 cm.

Despite the fact that many plants grow quickly, the optimal time for forming a hedge is 4 years. It is necessary to shape the plants only in the summer, thanks to this the fence will not become bald from below. With the right combination of plants, you can avoid cutting altogether. In this case, there will be “creative disorder”.

If you plan to grow a hedge in several rows, you must use the square-cluster method with an offset.

Planning and forming a fast-growing perennial hedge at your dacha is quite simple. To do this, you need to choose the right plants. In order for the hedge to be beautiful, it is necessary to take extra care of it in the first 2 years. It is during this period that the root system is consolidated.

Video

From the videos provided, you can learn how to make hedges with your own hands:

Do metal and wooden traditional fences make you sad? Would you like to see more fresh, dense greenery on your site? Then a DIY hedge at your dacha is just what will please you. A living fence is simple and unpretentious both in planting and maintenance. Only you can choose the best hedge for yourself, and we will tell you about the most popular options.

A hedge made of any plants will fit perfectly into any summer cottage: it will be a good fence and background for other landscape design details

Why are living fences needed?

When you are in a hurry to work nobly and relax on your summer cottage, the main condition is peace, nature and solitude.

There are other reasons why you should want to create a natural fence on your site:

With ordinary hedges you can’t hide from neighbors and passers-by. Another thing is a living green fence, which will not only reliably protect you from the surrounding bustle, but will also please the beauty of the eye.
Greens are always additional oxygen.
Dust and street dirt will not penetrate through the vegetable fence into the site.

Using low hedge plants, you can create an original fence for your flower bed.

Hedge to suit the owner's taste

Whatever you want to use to form a hedge at your dacha, your choice will certainly be justified. However, there are different plants used by gardeners for these purposes.

1. Fence made of pine needles

One of the favorite options for summer residents is coniferous fence. This material can be molded easily, does not require careful maintenance and has a beneficial effect on the owner. The needles cleanse and fill the air with a spruce aroma.

Thuja is one of the few plants that is best suited for “creating a living fence” on your site

Of course, evergreen coniferous plants are most suitable for creating a hedge: they will delight you with their beauty all year round

There are many types of conifers. A fence from them can be used as a border fence or for the entire perimeter of the dacha. Here's what coniferous species recommended to use to create a hedge:

Spruce, pine, cedar. These species are frost-resistant, grow for many years and are good for external fencing.
Fir, thuja. These representatives grow quickly, have the shape of columns or pyramids, and are perfectly cut into any shape. In general, it is used quite often.
Juniper hedge(). A universal material for fencing, since from the variety of its varieties you can create borders, meter-long and even external fences.

Planting a coniferous hedge

The soil should be turfy, light, and moist.
A hole for conifers is dug to the size of the root ball.
The roots are transferred into the hole, maintaining the shape of the pot, and covered with fertilized soil.
Sprinkle dry pine needles or moss on top and water well.
The distance between pines or spruces is 2-3 m, and juniper is planted every meter and a half.

In order to properly plant a hedge, it is necessary to dig a trench half a meter deep and 0.4-0.5 meters wide. The distance between plants depends on its splendor: for example, in the case of thuja, the distance between seedlings should be 50 - 60 centimeters

So that your coniferous fence at the dacha has great view, do not forget to spray it regularly, water it and irrigate it with antifungal solutions.

2. Deciduous tree fence

Ornamental willows are used for deciduous hedges, fruit trees, birch, viburnum, hawthorn, virgin grapes and other species. Such a fence is planted with seedlings, which are best purchased at a nursery.

Planting a deciduous hedge

I dig a hole for trees using 2 spade bayonets.
Pour a bucket of water into the hole and install the seedling.
We fill the planting with soil fertilized with humus, possibly with a rooting agent.
Pour another bucket of water on top.
The distance between deciduous trees should be a meter and a half.

An elegant hedge can be formed from willow: it’s true that creating such a fence will take a lot of effort and time, but believe me, it’s worth it

Young trees can be grown crosswise. Plant, for example, willow seedlings and intertwine them with each other. Next year, do the weaving again. Repeat this until the hedge is the desired height, then cut off the tops.

3. Shrubs for hedges

The most popular hedge shrub “of all time” is boxwood. It grows up to a couple of meters, is easy to cut and can take on absolutely any shape. Usually these are angular wide or round fences.

Boxwood is the undisputed leader among all shrubs that can be used to create a hedge.

A lilac hedge looks great on a large summer cottage: if the territory of your property is not large, then it is better to avoid planting lilacs

They also look very cute barberries, forsythia, honey locust, cotoneaster, derain, lilac and others.

Planting shrubs

Shrubs for hedges are planted like trees, but at a closer distance. Before planting, you need to prepare markings to create the desired decor in the future. This type of hedge requires regular shaping and grows on its own very quickly.

Features of cutting bushes

The beginning of trimming hedges is early spring.
Young soft twigs that emerge from general view, removed with pruning shears.
The first cutting is carried out when the plant has been alive for a couple of years. Now it will branch.
Shrubs are trimmed both in summer and before wintering.
Affected branches should also be pruned.

A hedge can be given any shape, but if you want to create something intricate, it is better to invite a landscape designer. Well, if you want a simple, even fence, you can do it yourself: the main thing to remember is that the base of the fence should be wider than its top

Bushes can be used to form shapes. Draw a layout for this in advance, and then mark the areas to be cut with string or colored spray.

4. Flowering hedges

The most beautiful fence is a flower fence, gazebo or trellis. You can use any here flowering varieties plants.

Hydrangea will help you create a colorful “living fence” that will delight you with its beauty all summer long

The most popular of them:

Climbing roses. They can be planted either in a palette or in a single color. Roses will transform even the most dull wooden fence.
. This unpretentious “fence” can be made multi-colored. Hydrangea is white, but if the soil is acidified, the flowers will be blue, and if the soil is alkaline, pink.
Rose hip. This is beauty with benefits. Cute rosehip flowers turn into medicinal berries in mid-summer.

Also, a flowering fence can be obtained from honeysuckle, mahonia, weigela, kalmia, privet and other flowers. Planting and caring for a flower fence is not difficult. To do this, study the characteristics and preferences of each variety.

To trim hedges, you can use both regular manual pruning shears and modern electric pruning shears.

Many gardeners are sure that a hedge can be formed from absolutely any plants. And they are not wrong. In this matter, the basis is your imagination. Now you know how to plant a hedge correctly, just experiment with a living fence and you will get the long-awaited result, the best for your dacha.

A traditional picket or mesh fence reliably protects the area from prying eyes and, most importantly, from uninvited guests. But only a hedge can fit into the landscape as harmoniously as possible; what is the best material to make such a fence from?

Types of hedges in landscape design

The world of plants is incredibly vast, but not all are suitable for solving the problem facing the summer resident. The choice of plants depends on the intended appearance of the future fence and its purpose.

Hedges are used:

for external fencing of the site;
to divide the territory internally according to functional purpose;
for framing flower beds, lawns and mixborders.

In this case, plantings can be of different heights and densities, evergreen and retaining foliage only in the warm season. Shrubs for hedges are given strict shapes by pruning, or the plants retain their natural shape throughout their lives. Fences made from intertwined living shoots of bushes or trees look especially decorative.

To give the hedge the proper density or originality, plants are planted in one, two or three rows.

When planting a living wall, sometimes not one type is used, but several at once. ornamental plants, the main thing is that they have a similar growth rate, frost resistance, as well as requirements for soil composition and care.

An excellent example of this approach would be a hedge of different types of currants:

golden or fragrant;
alpine;
blood red.

Evergreens for hedges

Fencing and borders grown using evergreen crops are very popular for a variety of reasons. Among them:

high density of green fence;
decorative effect that persists even in the cold season;
easy tolerability of haircuts, which cannot be avoided if the hedge is to be given a clear shape;
slow growth of shoots, helping to maintain the neat appearance of the bush for a long time.

In addition, evergreen plants for hedges do not require complex care and are versatile. Unfortunately, not many similar crops are adapted to Russian conditions. Almost all of them are conifers.

The leaders in popularity are:

spruce of various subspecies;
common juniper;
dwarf mountain pine.

With the help of plants of modern varieties with needles in green, silver and golden colors, it is possible to bypass one of the most weaknesses coniferous plants - the monotony of the color of the hedge.

Evergreen shrubs, such as juniper, are used when planting deciduous hedges. Gradually the intertwining crowns strengthen each other. The ephedra colors the fence in green tones all year round, and the deciduous crop makes its appearance bright and changeable.

Deciduous crops for hedges in the country

Coniferous hedges are almost a classic. But what is better to make a hedge from if you want to decorate the area with something original?

Numerous deciduous crops will come to the aid of the summer resident, which:

well adapted to the climate of the middle zone;
do not require labor-intensive care and special conditions
tolerate pruning painlessly;
form a crown dense enough for a fence;
change their appearance throughout the year, determining the seasonal appearance of the site.

When choosing species for hedges in your dacha, it is better to give preference to plants that have proven their unpretentiousness and winter hardiness. Small-leaved varieties with highly branching shoots have proven themselves best as a fence.

The list of such shrubs and small plants is quite large:

blackthorn;
yellow acacia or caragana;
elder;
small-leaved elm;
snowberry;
viburnum;
cherry laurel;
mock orange;
black chokeberry;
honeysuckle of non-fruiting varieties;
euonymus;
hawthorn;
vesicular carp;
white derain;
currant;
irga.

The summer resident has at his disposal dozens of worthy deciduous plants, which not only form a reliable and durable hedge, but also attract attention with variegated foliage, like barberry or turf, lush flowering, characteristic of mock orange, lilac, fieldfare, bladderwort, viburnum or hydrangea. There are many plants with decorative or edible fruits. Such shrubs include barberry and euonymus, chokeberry, shadberry and blackthorn. What gives the site a special charm are views with a changing appearance from season to season, like white turf.

Choosing plants for a molded hedge

Green fences of geometric shapes, achieved through regular trimming, look incredibly beautiful. However, not all of the deciduous crops listed above can withstand such a procedure. Which shrub is suitable for a formal hedge?

For plantings that will have to maintain strict forms determined by pruning for many years, it is most important to choose plants with frequent branching shoots and small, quickly renewed foliage. This will help create a semblance of a dense living wall, border, arch over the gate and other structures.

Not only does trimming hedges not harm such crops, but the crown of shrubs becomes denser from year to year and better copes with the protective function of the fence.

Another feature of strict forms of shrubs suitable for planting is their small annual growth. The choice of plants in this case is considerable. This:

numerous species and varieties of barberry, distinguished not only by height, but also by the color of dense foliage.
hawthorn and bladderwort with green or purple foliage;
alpine and golden currants;
privet;
euonymus;
japonica.

No matter how resistant the plants are to shearing, they should be subjected to this procedure extremely carefully, having a certain skill in such work.

Having decided to grow a rectangular and then a more rounded fence on your site, you will have to stock up on patience and special hedge scissors.

Free-growing hedges in landscape design

If painstaking work on the formation of shrubs is not to your liking, but natural beauty is closer, the plants are planted at a short distance from each other so that the crowns intersect, but are not given a single shape. From the outside, such a fence seems airy, but inside its intertwining branches create a strong, impenetrable frame.

What is the best material to make a free-form hedge from? Since the plants are not specifically pruned, their crowns actively grow and can take up a lot of space on the site. Ornamental shrubs in adulthood they can have a crown diameter from 50 cm to 3 meters. This is taken into account when selecting crops for planting.

At the dachas small area It is difficult to implement such a project, but it is possible by planting a low-growing border, for example, from Japanese quince, euonymus, some varieties of thuja and juniper. If the summer resident is not constrained by space, a list of shrubs and even small trees is expanding significantly, including flowering, decorative deciduous and fruit species.

What to plant in a hedge? For an unpretentious green fence that requires almost no maintenance and can winter well in middle lane Russia, suitable:

hawthorn;
vesicular carp;
fieldfare;
barberry, which creates dense prickly protection for the area;
elder;
mock orange;
spirea of almost all cultivated varieties;
Hungarian and common lilac;
different types and heights.

To ensure that a hedge in landscape design is not only a decoration, but also a real protection, it is strengthened with a second tier. It may be higher than the first or lower.

Often the second row is pruned into the shape of a wall or border to support and limit hydrangeas, lilacs, park roses and other types. IN winter time Thanks to such support, the hedge retains its density and, when using conifers, its opacity.

How to make a hedge?

Work on laying planting trenches and planting plants begins only after creating an accurate, well-thought-out plan for the fence. For the external boundaries of the site, green walls up to 2 meters high are more suitable, and in some cases, for example, when adjacent to a busy highway, even higher. Inside the site, borders from 50 cm to a meter high are suitable for zoning space and edging.

Before making a hedge, based on the average height of plants and the width of their crown, calculate required amount bushes. On every linear meter planted:

1–2 large specimens, for example, hawthorn, common lilac, serviceberry, chokeberry, bladderwort;
3–5 medium-sized plants, which include viburnum, derain, snowberry, barberry, honeysuckle;
5–7 shrubs with a low crown, for example, Japanese quince, spirea, certain varieties of euonymus and thuja.

For single-row planting, a trench 40–50 cm wide and 50–60 cm deep is dug along the line of the future fence. The more rows of plants, the greater the volume of land work. With each row of bushes, the planting trench becomes wider by 30 or 40 cm.

Planting is carried out in mid-spring, using 3-year-old coniferous or 2-year-old deciduous seedlings. Such planting material takes root quite quickly and painlessly. In multi-row hedges, planting is carried out in a checkerboard pattern, adhering to the intervals between shrubs described above. In molded fences, plants are placed closer to each other, and in free plantings - a little further.