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

Looking at an ordinary fence, no matter how beautiful it may be, the pleasure is rather doubtful. To make it look more attractive, it is decorated in a variety of ways, among which the most effective is the creation of a lively green hedge. It allows not only to close from bothersome prying eyes, but also creates protection from the sun, prevents the penetration of dust on the site, reduces the noise from the roads. In addition, the aesthetically decorated fence looks very unusual, interesting and extravagant. When choosing plants and creating a design, you can fantasize, discover creative possibilities and surprise others with an exclusive planting.

Arranging a lively green hedge

A lively green hedge (photo can be seen in the article) is a closed planting of shrubs or trees, creating an impression of the 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 assigned).

The height of the green hedge can be high - 150 cm and above, middle from 50 cm to 150 cm and low - up to 50 cm.

When forming such a living wall, pillars-supports, a grid or curbs can be additionally used.

The simplest variant of planting is digging along the planned trench line, the shape of which can be zigzag, straight or angular. The width of the landing depends on the selected species of greenery.

When choosing plants, it is important to consider the degree of illumination, groundwater level, 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 fencing will perform not only a protective, but also a health and aesthetic function. A living green hedge will not only hide the site and the house from other people's views, please owners with its appearance, but also perform a health-promoting role, since much more oxygen will be released and the air will be saturated with various useful essential oils. In addition, such an obstruction deters dust, reduces noise from roads, protects from the scorching sun.

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

• For such a design requires care (watering, holding fertilizing, haircuts);
• This is not a sufficiently reliable barrier to unauthorized penetration;
• At the root part of the plantations access is formed for the passage of animals;
• For the fence it is important to carefully select the plants.

Low hedges

A low green fence is called a curb. Such decorative fencing can reach a height of up to 0.5 m. It is most often used to decorate paths, flower beds, flowerbeds, sites, designations in the area of zones, etc. They form a low hedge from slowly growing, low-growing and low-growing species of plants. For hedges of a small height curbs are suitable:

• Dwarf forms of jasmine garden;
• Evergreen undersized boxwood and spindle;
• Erika;
• Mountain pine Pug;
• Pudubolic magnolia,
• Cotoneaster and barberry;
• Thu western;
• Colloniform juniper.

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

• Roses;
• Rose hips;
• Shrubby shrub and Dahurian;
• Spirea Bumalda (niphon or Japanese);
• The lion cub.

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

If the living green hedge will grow near the house and it will be provided with more careful care, then in this case it is possible to select cultures from more capricious varieties. At the dacha is clearly better to plant unpretentious plants.

Green hedges of medium height

If you need a fence of plants, the height of which is up to 1.5 m, then they say already about the fence. Here you can use flowering and fruit bearing shrubs and some types of trees. If such a green fence at the dacha performs protective functions, it can also include prickly bushes such as barberry, tall roses, dog rose, dogwood. In addition to the already listed plants without pruning is often planted:

• Flowering cultures - chubushnik, lilacs, forsytsia, hydrangea, hawthorn, acacia yellow, turf;
• Fruit bearing - dogwood, hazel, honeysuckle (common, blue, Tatar), currant golden, pyracantha bright red;
• With dense foliage - spindle, brewery, cotoneaster, evergreen boxwood, Vungut spiruya;
• Conifers - thujus western, spruce Canadian, green, blue, Siberian fir, juniper, yew berry.

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

High hedges - living walls

For high green hedges, whose height exceeds 1.5 meters, usually use plants, although some species of tall shrubs may well grow to 2 or more meters:

• Fruit trees and berry bushes - cherry plum, apple berry, irga (colossus, Tatar), viburnum, buckthorn;
• Deciduous cultures - oak tree, small-leafed linden, maple.
• Flowering plants - tall varieties of lilac, chubushnik, honeysuckle;
• Coniferous and evergreen - fir, spruce, yew, thuja, juniper (medium, colpiform, Chinese), grapesque pea, evergreen boxwood (high grades).

The green hedge of evergreen plants is very popular today. So, for example, thuya is an evergreen and unpretentious plant, which year round pleases with its rich color. The green hedge of tuja can reach a height of up to 20 m. Not only simple fences are made of it, but also trees are given a variety of forms: balls, arches, sculptures, etc.

Fast-growing plants for green hedges

The green fence of the plants looks very beautiful, but it may take years to form a full-fledged fence. Especially slowly and for a long time coniferous cultures grow. For example, the fact that the tuya grows to 1.5 m in height, it takes about 5 years, and yew berry need 8 years in general, but they can please the eye during the year. Some of the bushes for the year are added in growth more than others - from 0.5 to 1 m. They are used to quickly form a green fence. You can plant a green fence from the following plants:

• Siberian hawthorn with yellow flowers (grows to 1 m per year);
• Rose hips, blackberries, weaving roses (necessary support);
• Shrubby willow;
• Vesicle cannabis (shoots under favorable conditions can grow up to 1 m);
• A dappled hazel (a year grows to a meter or even more);
• Sod.

Planting of green hedges and care

The green hedge is made by its own hands is not difficult.

The creation of any green fencing begins with the selection of plants. When choosing it is important to pay attention that all of them should have the same age. Only in this way is it possible to form an even rank. If deciduous plants are chosen for the green fence, the age of the seedlings can be two to three years, if it is coniferous - three to six years. If planting of plantations in a shaded area is planned, then the age of the seedlings is more - up to 6-8 years. Under these conditions, they grow slowly enough, and more mature plants will immediately give some form.

Type of hedge	Distance between rows (in meters)	Distance between plants (m)
Strizhenaya high (from 1.5 to 6 m and above)	1	0.8 - 1.2
Sheared average (0.5-1.5 m)	0.8 - 1	0.4-0.6
Freely growing high (1.5-5 m and above)	2 - 3	12
Freely growing average (from 0.5 to 1.5 m)	1 - 1.5	0.8 - 1

Planting Distances

Planting of seedlings in the middle belt and closer to the north begins in the spring, in the southern regions plants can be planted in the autumn. Planting starts with the formation of trenches.

• Trenches (depth 50-60 cm) are excavated on the marked markings.
• A fertile layer of soil of suitable composition is poured.
• The seedlings are laid out at the required distance (see table above).
• To ensure that the seedlings are well established, there is no need to break the existing earth clod. The soil is poured around the root system and compacts well.
• Immediately after planting, the plants are abundantly watered and mulch - humus, peat, crushed bark, are added to preserve moisture.

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

In the autumn of a hedge, a pruning may be required. Even if the cultures are growing freely, a green fence must still be formed. He does not need to be given the right shape, but pruning is required, as for the cut.

Features of trimming an unshaped green hedge

As already mentioned above, even a freely growing green hedge (photo attached to the article) requires pruning. The first of these is carried out immediately after planting the seedling. This contributes to the formation of powerful lateral shoots, and by autumn the shrub becomes more branched. The second pruning is carried out in autumn. For 3-4 years the bushes are cut short enough until the density of the shoots is sufficient.

One effective way is to trim plants by the method of coppice. It uses the ability of deciduous green shrubs to activate root sleeping buds.

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

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

For 3-6 years, pruning is carried out on the same principle, only the branches are cut higher by 3-4 cm than in the previous year. Subsequently, the cutting is also strong, but only 3/4 of the length is cut off. This method is good for shrubs that form flower buds at the ends of young shoots.

Using this principle, it is possible to quickly mold a dense green hedge from short curb plants, as well as from such medium-sized crops as:

• Rose wrinkled;
• Shrubby shrubby;
• Mountain ashberry;
• Hydrangea paniculate;
• Decorative varieties of white turf.

The disadvantage of this method is that with it, the formation of radical shoots is greatly intensified. In this case, the most aggressive varieties can give abundant shoots a few meters from the bush itself. Therefore, it is recommended to limit the root zone while planting, digging a sheet of metal, asbestos or plastic for this purpose.

Grooming a lively green hedge

Many of the beginning gardeners believe that it is necessary to form a hedge only after it grows. But you can wait for a year or two only with coniferous crops, you need to cut down the deciduous trees immediately after planting, and then in the fall, otherwise with a free chaotic growth of the year after 2-3 it will be difficult or impossible to make anything with the plant.

Before proceeding to the beginning of molding, you must first determine the shape. Note that a green fence (hedge) with a straight top should be cut very often, as it loses its decorativeness. Therefore, as the most active growth is in the upper zone, here, in the first place, the ideality of the lines is broken. On the lateral surfaces at this time they are still normal. If you do not have a regular haircut or desire, you can choose a shape with a triangular or rounded upper part. So even if you miss the term of haircuts plants look normal.

In the first year of life, all shoots should be shortened to a considerable height. If these are seedlings that sell in bundles with bare roots, they can be cut into half the 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; therefore, closer to the end of summer, the bushes become much thicker.

The next step is to form the skeleton itself.

If you look inside the already formed hedge, you can see a very powerful frame, consisting of bare shoots. They come from many young people, with abundant foliage. This frame should be formed. And it should be quite thick, so that the surface formed is opaque and dense. This process is started already in another year after the planting, and continue for two to three years. During this period, pruning can be carried out for the season up to 4-5 times. The main task is to achieve the necessary density of the emerging "skeleton". The green fence (hedge) is cropped on the selected form. We give an example of the formation of a skeleton.

To adhere to this trimming follows with any finite form, only by lowering or raising the top of the triangle (this depends on how narrow and long the fence is planned). If it is wide, the apex is slightly lowered, if it is necessary to have a high and narrow, then it is lifted, and the base is made already. Every year the pruning is done a little higher by approximately 3-4 cm. As a result, new shoots begin to actively grow, and on those that have already been formed, new forks are formed, the skeletal branches become even more branched. After the necessary density of shoots is reached, proceed to forcing in height. This is the third stage. It is on it that the height of the trimming is raised more actively - by almost 5-10 cm at a time. At the same time, strongly growing shoots are trimmed until the required density of lateral shoots is obtained. Filling the fence with leaves should be tight. Under the condition that pruning is performed for a season for several times, growth is fairly active. There is a simultaneous formation and new shoots, but they, as a rule, are not so much as before.

The frequency of trimming is determined depending on the plant species, for example:

• Hawthorn and plum cut in the period from May to October three to four times;
• Throat, cotoneaster, juniper, barberry, snow leopard once in summer (in July or August) and once in autumn (in October).

The pruning must be carried out in such a way that the lateral filling is also formed with the hood upwards. That thus there were no gaps it is desirable to "lift" a bush more slowly. In the future, it will be much more difficult to fix it.

At the final stage, the desired shape is given. In the future, a regular haircut is held, which supports the form.

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

• Ottawa barberry;
• Terene;
• Snow white conifer;
• Cotoneaster shining;
• Blood-red hawthorn.

Green hedge from the willow

Today, green fences from the bush are not uncommon, but the original and living hedge, created from a willow that will not require special care - is no less successful option. It is a very beautiful tree that attracts attention with graceful flowing flexible branches that can be weaved and optionally formed into a pattern, tunnel or wall.

From the willow you can create a completely special hedge, weaving freshly cut branches and just buried in the ground. Such a landing is accepted with a high probability. If desired, the branches can even be stuck from both ends, forming a kind of arc. Will will release the roots from both ends simultaneously. To speed up the process, the apex is cut at the tip, the cortex is cut several centimeters along the two places. Prepared in this way, the shoot is digested in the soil.

Using this feature, a green fence (hedge) in the cottage can be weaved from the willow, which will turn green after a few weeks. To do this, prepare the shoots and deepen them by about 15 cm, squeeze the soil around well, then plant the water abundantly. In order for everything to look more attractive, that is, the dried ends of the branches do not protrude, the rods should be bent better. At the intersection, they can be tied up or intertwined. If the twigs are too thin and weak, you can use two at a time, and also set up periodic supports that will support the fence.

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

There are many varieties of willow, there are close to 600 names in nature. 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 long, then the herbaceous plants give abundant dense greenery after 2 weeks. This is 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 a part of the fence that is visible. To do this, a wooden grid is made, and square boxes are inserted into it, in which plants are planted. So that the soil does not fall out of them, the containers need to be closed with black agglomerates. In it, you should make a small hole in which the planted plant will look. With good lighting and sufficient watering, the wall or fence will soon become green and shaggy. If there is a desire, you can put live pictures in this way, using plants that have foliage of different colors.

So, the green hedge created by own hands becomes a true ornament of the site and will please and bring satisfaction for many years.