If you want an attractive yard, consider planting a hedge. A well kept and attractive hedge can be placed in front of your house and on the edges of your property, screening your yard from traffic, noise, and your neighbors messy yard. While screening out the bad, they will also add a beautiful element to your yard. Hedges can also be used within your yard to design paths and walkways or designate certain areas for various uses. They can also be used to hide service areas from view.
If you plan to plant a hedge in your yard, consider the plant you wish to use. Commonly used varieties include holly, thorn, or wattle for a tall background hedge. Rose, spirea, or barberry make beautiful informal flowering hedges. Evergreens like mugho pine, globe arbor vitae, box will stay green all year long. Plant a colorful hedge using thorn apple, hazelnut, cherry, beach plum, cranberry, or quince, and youll have fruit or nuts as a bonus. Of course, you can also choose a plant to make formal clipped hedges, although these require upkeep to keep them looking tidy. The privet is used by most people wishing for formal hedges, but you can be original and choose a different variety.
When planting a hedge, its important to keep in mind all of the principles of good gardening, just as if you were planting any other type of plant. Prepare the soil well so that it will support the shrub for many years. When planting a shrub, spacing is also of paramount importance. You dont want the hedge plants to crowd each other as they grow, but you also dont want excessive space between the plants, which would negate the purpose for a hedge.
To get a straight hedge around pools or pond areas, just dig a straight trench and then set your plants in the trench. The depth to which your hedge should be planted will depend on the variety you have chosen, the spacing between plants, as well as your landscaping plan. Privet is usually set 1 foot apart, while smaller varieties can be spaced as close as 9 inches apart, and larger shrubs should be set 2 to 4 feet from each other.
Once your hedges begin to grow, youll need to trim them to the shape you want. You can create a flat top, which will look tidy, but it is easily damaged by snow and ice. A rounded top is better if you live in a climate with cold winters. No matter your location, your hedges should be trimmed so they slope outward from top to bottom, allowing the leaves on the bottom to get some sun. With careful planning, you can create a beautiful and useful hedge in your yard.