Four Reasons for Having Hedges in your Landscaping

Articles on Hedges | Topics: hedges, hedge, bushes, bush

by Miranda Russell

There are more than four reasons for including hedges in your landscaping design, but I'm going to touch on just four. Privacy, beauty, mark boundaries, and windbreakers. No matter why you are putting in hedges be prepared for high maintenance. Hedges do need to be taken care of to look good and provide the beauty and role you want. If you are choosing a hedge for a more formal look, then be prepared to put some time into its maintenance. A flowering hedge usually needs to be pruned perhaps once a year and allowed to grow in their natural shape.

Privacy is one good reason to have a hedge on your property. If you live in an urban area, hedges can be an alternative to a privacy fence. It can be made intruder proof by just selecting the right plants. It can be kept at whatever height you prefer. Some hedges can grow as tall as ten feet or more, and can be trimmed down to whatever best suits your needs. Hedges are dense and that makes it hard for intruders or animals to get through it. Some hedges have thorns to further discourage anyone from trying to get through. Some good plants to use for a security hedge are Holly and Hawthorne. The Hawthorne has white blooms followed by bright red berries that normally will last through the winter. They both have many vicious thorns that provide a good barrier against unwanted intruders. These two types of hedges will grow to at least 12 feet.

Beauty is another reason to plant hedges. Hedges can be planted that will give color all year. From beautiful flowering shrubs in the springtime, to beautiful autumn colors, red, bronze, and orange in the fall. Flowering hedges can be chosen so flowers will bloom at different times of the spring and summer, and in winter, they may have colorful berries. Informal flowering hedges can be made a part of a mixed border and they don't have to be of uniform shape. They can be planted for their blooms and aromas and need low maintenance. Formal clipped hedges can make a dramatically different impact on your landscape. Not only can they be shaped, but they also give dimension to an otherwise normal landscape. Formal or informal hedges can also make beautiful backgrounds for other plants, provide walking paths and can help prevent soil erosion. You may want to use both and place them in strategic areas of your lawn. Small hedges lining walkways and driveways are popular as well as the formal hedge clipped in a straight line. Formal hedges can also be used to divide large lawn spaces into smaller enclosed garden rooms, quiet little nooks to put up your feet with a good book.

Historical Quote

There’s such divinity doth hedge a king
That treason can but peep to what it would,
Acts little of his will.

—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Hedges are often used to mark boundaries between properties. They are used successfully both in the country and in the city. Many country estates have well-kept hedges to mark boundary lines. They are more attractive than a wire fence, longer lasting than a wooden one and can be trimmed to the height you need for privacy. Popular use of hedges for boundaries in the urban areas is a line of hedges between one driveway and another property. In the city, it gives you a boundary line that can be counted on for a good number of years. Remember when planting hedges for boundaries; don't encroach on your neighbors land. Hedge plants grow outward as well as up, so give them plenty of room on your neighbor's side. Using hedges rather than wooden or chain link fences are more pleasing to the eye and can be just as effective in marking boundaries, as well as increasing the beauty of your lawn.

Hedges used as windbreakers are especially popular and practical for those living in rural areas. These hedges are normally trees. Several different trees that are good for windbreaks are; Beech trees, hemlock, evergreen and fir trees. They all provide good windbreaks if you are in a part of the country that is flat with nothing to break the wind and snow from assaulting your home. These trees can also be used as barriers against traffic noise and debris. The interesting fact about trees as windbreaks is the destructive force of wind against a solid wall or fence can allow the wind to jump right over it with the same amount of strength. Hedges will cushion the force of the wind and lessen its strength.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Four Reasons for Having Hedges in your Landscaping" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by FlowersPlantsGardening.com.

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