Planting A Hedge

A hedgerow or hedge are a fence of living trees, shrubs or other plants and may consist of a simple row or a pyramid of plant heights. The plants can provide food and shelter for wildlife such as birds and lizards, and create more habitats than one level of vegetation. Hedgerows also will establish contour guidelines for farming and can save fields from wind erosion. Hedges are planted for a number of reasons; the most common is for privacy. Hedges add another living element to your garden and home, they are a thing of beauty. The act of trimming plants to formally create a hedge is a very ancient gardening practice. A good hedge adds value and character to your property, and best of all hedges are not that hard to grow.

Choosing the right plant: This is crucial. Make sure you know how high you want it, what sort of soil and conditions you have. Choosing the wrong plant can have devastating results but unfortunately it’s often the hardest part of growing a hedge. You need to make sure that the plant you choose will grow where you want to plant it.

Soil Preparation: Prepare your soil with compost and fertiliser, and water well before and after planting. Dig over your soil well, add compost and organic matter to aerate the soil. Water the soil well for a few days before planting. Add a general fertiliser to the soil before planting to give the plants a head start. (see ‘Planting Trees & Shrubs’ sheet). Set up irrigation systems for your hedge at this stage if you plan to use one.

Planting: Check what the recommended planting distance is, try to follow it. Obviously the closer you plant your hedge the quicker it will join up to make as hedge however it is not always recommended to do this.

Pruning: A prune once or twice a year is enough, with early spring a good time for one then late summer to autumn. But light pruning more often over the growing season can produce a soft and full hedge. Pruning helps to maintain good healthy plant growth.

Fertiliser: Apply a good layer of manure twice a year or alternatively apply general slow release fertiliser twice a year.

Mulch: Hedges love mulch, it helps reduce moisture loss and keep the weed levels down. Spraying: If you are religious about spraying, a good winter clean up spray of insecticide and fungicide is ideal. But if you would rather spray when a problem occurs this is quite acceptable.

Conclusion: Growing a hedge is not as hard, many of us think “I don’t know how to, so I doubt I would be able to grow one”, but it’s easy, just make sure you choose the right plant. Seek good garden advice from our staff on what you want to achieve, what plants would be suitable in your area. Hedges can be used to divide up areas of your garden, just like walls in a house. Hedges add a different dimension to the garden that can never be matched by any type of constructed fence. It’s a living garden feature that will attract birds, change colour with the seasons and it height adjustable. I don’t know of any fence that you can cut back, and the next year you can let it grow a little taller if you like.

PLANTS SUITABLE FOR A HEDGE

Plants for a taller hedge 1.5m +

Plants for a hedge up to 1.5m

# Ideal for coastal gardens

As an alternative hedge you could use flaxes or toe toe. You could even create a fence by planting cabbage trees in a row (this can be topped when plants are more mature) or use tree ferns.