Green hedge: species, device, plants, pruning, photo

Looking at an ordinary fence, no matter how beautiful it may be, is a rather dubious pleasure. In order to make it look more attractive, it is decorated in a variety of ways, among which the creation of a live green hedge is the most effective. It allows not only to be closed from prying prying eyes, but also creates protection from the sun, prevents the penetration of dust into the area, reduces the noise level from roads. In addition, the aesthetically designed fence looks very unusual, interesting and extravagant. When choosing plants and creating designs, you can dream up, discover creative possibilities and surprise others with an exclusive planting.

The device of a green hedge

A green hedge (the photo can be seen in the article) is a closed planting of shrubs or trees that creates the impression of a wall. Plantings can be freely growing (natural) or sheared, deciduous or coniferous, soft or prickly, multi-row or single-row, combined or created from plants and shrubs of the same species (depending on the tasks).

In height, the green hedge can be high - 150 cm and above, medium from 50 cm to 150 cm and low - up to 50 cm.

When forming such a living wall, pillars, netting or borders can be additionally used.

The easiest option for planting plants is to dig a trench along the outlined line, the shape of which can be zigzag, straight or angular. Planting width depends on the selected types of greenery.

When choosing plants, it is important to consider the degree of illumination, the level of groundwater, soil fertility and other indicators.

Advantages and disadvantages of the green hedge

Planting a green hedge is a great alternative to a traditional wooden, concrete or stone fence. Such a fence will perform not only a protective, but also a healing and aesthetic function. A green hedge will not only hide the land and the house from other people's views, delight the owners with its appearance, but will also play a healing role, since much more oxygen will be released and the air will be saturated with various useful essential oils. In addition, such a fence traps dust, reduces noise from roads, protects from the scorching sun.

In addition to the advantages, the fence - the green hedge has certain disadvantages:

• for such a design requires care (watering, feeding, haircuts);
• it is not a reliable enough barrier for unauthorized entry;
• at the basal part of the stands, access for the passage of animals is formed;
• for the fence, it is important to carefully select the plants.

Low hedges

A low green hedge is also called a curb. Such a decorative fence can reach a height of up to 0.5 m. It is most often used for the design of paths, flower beds, flower beds, platforms, designations on the site of zones, etc. A low hedge is formed from slowly growing, short and low-cut plant species. For hedges of small curb heights fit:

• dwarf forms of garden jasmine;
• evergreen undersized boxwoods and euonymus;
• Erika;
• mountain pine pug ;
• holly magnolia,
• cotoneaster and barberry;
• thuja western;
• colloid juniper.

If the green fence (border) is planned to grow freely, you can plant:

• roses;
• rosehip;
• cinquefoil shrubby and Daurian;
• Bumald’s spiraea (Nipon or Japanese);
• Lavson's cypress.

Only some of the options are provided here. These cultures form a dense wall of flowers and leaves. Caring for them is relatively simple. Before making the final choice, it is necessary to clarify the zoning of the selected plant and the features of its cultivation.

If a green hedge grows near the house and more thorough care is provided to it, then in this case it is possible to select crops from more capricious varieties. In the country, it is definitely better to plant unpretentious plants.

Green hedges of medium height

If a fence of plants is required, the height of which is up to 1.5 m, then they are already talking about hedges. Here flowering and fruiting shrubs and some types of trees can be used. If such a green hedge in the country performs protective functions, it can also include thorny shrubs such as barberry, tall roses, rose hips, dogwood. In addition to the plants already listed, without pruning, they often plant:

• flowering crops - mock orange, lilac, forsythia, hydrangea, hawthorn, yellow acacia, derain;
• fruit-bearing - dogwood, hazel, honeysuckle (ordinary, blue, Tatar), golden currants, bright red pyracantha;
• with dense foliage - euonymus, privet, cotoneaster, evergreen boxwood, wangutta spiraea;
• conifers - thawed western, Canadian spruce, green, blue, Siberian fir , juniper, yew berry.

The green fence in the country is very often used only to disguise the main fence or complement it. In these cases, the surface of the fence can be used as a support for plants.

High hedges - living walls

For tall green hedges, whose height exceeds 1.5 meters, plants are usually used, although some types of tall bushes may well grow up to 2 or more meters:

• fruit trees and berry shrubs - cherry plum, berry apple tree, snowdrop (spikelet, Tatar), viburnum, buckthorn;
• deciduous crops - English oak, small-leaved linden, maple.
• flowering plants - tall varieties of lilac, mock orange, honeysuckle;
• coniferous and evergreen - fir, spruce, yew, thuja, juniper (middle, colloid, Chinese), cypress pea, evergreen boxwood (high grades).

Green hedge of evergreens is very popular today. For example, thuja is an evergreen and unpretentious plant, which pleases with its rich color all year round. The green hedge of thuja can reach a height of up to 20 m. Not only simple fences are made of it, but also give the trees a variety of forms: balls, arches, sculptures, etc.

Fast-growing plants for green hedges

A green hedge from plants looks very beautiful, but it may take years to form a full-fledged fence. Conifers grow especially slowly and for a long time. For example, it takes about 5 years for the thuja to grow to 1.5 m in height, and the yew berry will need 8 years in general, but they can please the eye all year round. Some of the shrubs in the year add more in growth than others - from 0.5 to 1 m. It is they that are used to quickly form a green fence. You can plant a green hedge from the following plants:

• Siberian hawthorn with yellow flowers (grows up to 1 m per year);
• rose hip, blackberry, weaving roses (support needed);
• shrubby willows;
• Kalinolistnyi vesiculose (shoots under favorable conditions can grow up to 1 m);
• big-leafed hazel (grows to a meter or more in a year);
• derain.

Green hedge planting and care

Making a green hedge with your own hands is quite simple.

The creation of any green fence begins with the selection of plants. When choosing, it is important to note that all of them must be the same age. Only in this way is it possible to form an even line. If deciduous plants are chosen for the green hedge, the age of the seedlings can be two to three years, if it is coniferous, three to six years. If planting is planned on a shaded area, then the age of the seedlings is more - up to 6-8 years. Under these conditions, they grow quite slowly, and older plants will immediately give a certain look.

Planting Distances

Planting seedlings in the middle lane and closer to the north begins in the spring, in the southern regions you can plant plants in the fall. Landing work begins with the formation of trenches.

• Trenches (depth 50-60 cm) are dug out according to the marked markings.
• A fertile soil layer of suitable composition is poured.
• The seedlings are laid out at the required distance (see table above).
• In order for the seedlings to take root well, the existing earthen lump does not need to be broken. The soil is poured around the root system and is well compacted.
• Immediately after planting, the plants are watered abundantly and sprinkled with mulch to save moisture - humus, peat, and crushed bark.

Further care for the first year consists of regular watering, loosening the soil, periodic fertilizers, weed removal. A complete list of necessary activities is prescribed in the recommendations for caring for a particular type of culture.

Autumn hedges may require pruning. Even if the crops are free-growing, a green fence still needs to be formed. He does not need to give the right shape, but pruning is required, as for a sheared.

Features trimming unformed green hedges

As mentioned above, even a freely growing green hedge (photos are attached to the article) requires trimming. The first of them is carried out immediately after planting a seedling. This contributes to the formation of powerful side shoots, and by autumn the shrub becomes more branched. The second trim is carried out in the fall. Within 3-4 years, the bushes are cut short enough until the shoot density is sufficient.

One of the effective methods is to prune plants using the growth method. It uses the ability of deciduous green shrubs to activate radical sleeping buds.

When planting, thin and weak shoots are cut off almost completely, and the strongest ones are shortened to the very first strong bud. Closer to autumn, new shoots will appear from the root.

When the sap flow stops, all shoots must be cut low, leaving only short stumps. Over the next year, the shrub will become denser, new shoots will appear from the root, and 2-3-powerful branches will go from the old ones.

For 3-6 years, pruning is carried out according to the same principle, only branches are trimmed 3-4 cm higher than in the previous year. In the future, pruning is also done strong, but only 3/4 of the length is cut. This method is good for shrubs forming flower buds at the ends of young shoots.

Using this principle, it is possible to quickly form a dense green hedge from low-growing border plants, as well as from medium-sized crops such as:

• wrinkled rose;
• shrubby cinquefoil;
• mountain ash of mountain ash;
• panicle hydrangea;
• decorative varieties of white turf.

The disadvantage of this method is that with it, the formation of root shoots is greatly activated. At the same time, the most aggressive varieties can give copious growth several meters from the bush itself. Therefore, it is recommended that when planting, the root zone be limited by digging a sheet of metal, asbestos or plastic for this.

Mowing a green hedge

Many of the beginning gardeners believe that you need to form a hedge only after it grows. But you can only postpone a year or two only with coniferous crops, deciduous need to be trimmed immediately after planting, and then in the fall, otherwise, with free random growth of a year or two, doing something with the plant will be either rather difficult or completely impossible.

Before proceeding to the start of molding, you must first determine the shape. Please note that a green fence (hedge) with a straight top must be cut very often, as it loses its decorative effect. And therefore, since the most active growth is precisely in the upper zone, here, in the first place, the ideality of the lines is violated. On the side surfaces at this time they are still normal. If there is no possibility or desire to carry out a regular haircut, you can choose a shape with a triangular or rounded top. So even if you skip the haircut, the plants look normal.

In the first year of life, all shoots should be shortened to a considerable height. If these are seedlings that are sold in bundles with a bare root, they can be cut to half length. If container plants are cut to 1/3 of the height or not cut at all.

Strong pruning stimulates the formation of new shoots, so closer to the end of the summer bushes become much thicker.

The next stage is the formation of the skeleton itself.

If you look inside the already formed hedge, you can see a very powerful frame, consisting of bare shoots. Many young come from them, with plentiful foliage. This framework should be formed. Moreover, it should be quite thick so that the surface formed is opaque and dense. This process is started the next year after planting, and continues for two to three years. During this period, pruning can be done up to 4-5 times per season. The main task is to achieve the necessary density of the emerging "skeleton". The green fence (hedge) is trimmed to the selected shape. We give an example of the formation of the frame.

To adhere to such trimming should be at any final shape, only lowering or raising the top of the triangle (it depends on how narrow and long the fence is planned). If it is wide, the top drops slightly, if it is necessary high and narrow, then it is raised, and the base is already made. Each year, pruning is a little higher by about 3-4 cm. As a result, new shoots begin to sprout actively, and on those that have already been, new forks are formed, the skeletal branches become even more branched. After the desired density of shoots is reached, they begin to distill in height. This is the third stage. It is on it that the height of the cropping is more actively raised - by almost 5-10 cm at a time. In this case, shoots growing strongly upwards are cut off until the required density of lateral shoots is obtained. Filling the fence with leaves should be dense. Subject to the condition that pruning is performed several times during the season, the growth is quite active. There is a simultaneous formation of new shoots, but, as a rule, there are not so many of them as before.

The cutting frequency is determined depending on the type of plants, for example:

• hawthorn and plum are sheared from May to October three to four times;
• thaw, cotoneaster, juniper, barberry, snow-berry once in the summer (in July or August) and once in the fall (in October).

Trimming should be carried out so that, along with the hood up, a side filling is also formed. So that there would be no gaps, it is advisable to "lift" the bush more slowly. In the future, the fix will be much more difficult.

At the final stage, the desired shape is given. In the future, a regular haircut is carried out, which maintains its shape.

For this type of green hedges in our conditions is perfect:

• Ottawa barberry;
• terin;
• white snow-berry;
• cotoneaster brilliant;
• blood red hawthorn.

Willow green hedge

Today, green fences from shrubs are not uncommon, but an original and hedge created from willow, which will not require special care, is no less a good option. This is a very beautiful tree that attracts attention with elegant flowing flexible branches that can be woven and optionally formed into a pattern, tunnel or wall.

From willow you can create a very special hedge by weaving freshly cut branches and simply digging into the ground. Such a landing is most likely taken. If desired, the branches can even be stuck from two ends, forming a kind of arc. Willow will release roots from both ends at the same time. To speed up the process, the top is cut off at the shoot, a few centimeters are cut along in two places along the bark. The shoot thus prepared is buried in the soil.

Using this feature, a green fence (hedge) in the country can be woven from willow, which will turn green in a few weeks. 15 , , . , . . , . . , , , .

The main disadvantage of such a hedge is that it will have a decorative appearance only for several years. Then the shoots will become green, and the green will practically disappear. But at the same time, the fence from this will not become less reliable, but, on the contrary, it is not so easy to break through such a strong wall - the branches are woven very tightly.

There are many varieties of willow, in nature there are close to 600 names. Each variety is distinguished by the shape and color of the leaves, the height and structure of the crown. Each species has its own name.

Live fence in a few weeks

If you wait until the shrubs and trees grow for a long time, then the herbaceous plants give abundant dense greens after 2 weeks. This is exactly what you can use if you need to quickly make a green fence (hedge) in the country (photo can be seen above), decorate a completely unsightly wall or part of the fence that is in sight. To do this, a wooden grate is made, and square containers in which plants are planted are inserted sideways into it. So that the soil does not fall out of them, the containers must be closed with black agrofibre. A small hole should be made in it, into which the planted plant will look. With good lighting and sufficient watering, the wall or fence will very soon become green and shaggy. If you want, you can thus lay out live pictures, using plants that have foliage of different colors for this.

So, a green hedge created with your own hands will become a true decoration of the site and will delight and bring satisfaction for many years.