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Growing Hedges

Since time immemorial, people have liked to surround their homes by building fences or growing hedges to create safe and private havens, keeping out predators and keeping in children and livestock. Growing a fence is slower than building one, but you won't need Tom Sawyer to paint it every five years. Once established, a good hedge should last a lifetime, though not without some annual maintenance. Hedges can be grown from almost any shrub, from flowering roses and forsythia to evergreen hemlock and yew. You can plant a hedge using just one type of plant, or mix and match, creating an interesting screen using half a dozen species. But planting a hedge can be expensive - unless you start with very small plants, or you root the plants yourself.

The common lilac has been used for hedges, in part, because it has lovely fragrant flowers, and partly because it sends up root suckers that can be dug up and moved - saving the cost of purchasing so many plants. If you buy lilacs for a hedge, ask at the nursery if it is one that sends up root suckers - many of the newer ones do not. If you have shoots coming up around a lilac, you can sever their connection to the mother plant, and dig them up. Loosen the soil around the shoot so you can get as much root as possible. Keep it moist until it has grown a nice root system, particularly in the heat of August. Lilacs like sweet soil, so work some wood ashes or limestone into the soil before planting.

Willows are also easy to root if you want to start a low-cost hedge. They are fast growing, handsome, and can be shaped easily with shears. There are dozens of types of willows are suitable for hedges, including my favorite, rosemary willow (Salix elaeagnos). It has reddish stems and fine leaves (resembling rosemary) that are silver underneath, so they shimmer in the wind.

Last summer I signed up with an organization called "Willing Workers on Organic Farms" (www.wwoof.org) and worked for a week (for room and board) on an organic farm that grows willow for baskets in rural France. There I learned that an easy way to root willow is to cut foot-long sections of young, vigorous stems early in the spring, and simply push the stems into the soil, leaving just 1-2 inches above ground to sprout. I tried it this spring, and it worked. Young twigs might root for you even now, if placed in water - and possibly if put directly in the soil and kept wet. Remove any leaves of the portion going in the ground if you try that approach.

Canadian hemlocks make wonderful dense hedges that keep nosey neighbors from spying, but must be pruned every July to keep them from getting away - they naturally want to be 60 feet tall. Prune them so that they are slightly wider at the base; that way the lower branches get sunshine and don't die out. The rule of thumb I learned years ago was to plant hemlocks 8 feet apart for an 8-foot hedge, or 5 feet apart for a five foot hedge. However, I see many planted more closely than that, perhaps in an effort to get them to fill in more quickly. If you dig up hemlocks in your woods, choose the smallest seedlings you can find - they will transplant better.

Rugosa roses, also known as beach roses, are extremely tough, and shrug off salt as if it were plant food. Planted 6 feet apart in full sun, they can fill in to make a dense hedge in just 3 years or so. They send up root suckers in several directions at once, so they need to be kept in control with shears -and the lawnmower. In no time, even the family dog won't try to cut through a hedge of these - they are very prickly. Their blossoms, though not long-stemmed, are colorful and fragrant.

What not to grow as a hedge? Several commonly used hedge plants are now known to be invasive species, and are prohibited from sale, or will be. Privet, once popular, is now outlawed throughout New England. Burning bush and Japanese barberry are still available, but will be prohibited from sale, transport or propagation as of January 1, 2007 in New Hampshire. These are tough, handsome plants - but their progeny are taking over the woods in some places, out-competing native plants.

Before planting a hedge, consider the following questions: What is the purpose and height of the hedge you wish to have? Are you willing to prune it every year to keep it the size you wish? Do you want total privacy, or just to create a cozy, enclosed feeling? Do you want flowers or fragrance from it? Do you want a sharply clipped formal hedge, or a screen that varies in color, height and texture? Do you have deer that may eat the hedge if you plant yew or other plants attractive to them? And will the plants you choose for a hedge grow well in your soil and light conditions? Do your homework - and talk to the knowledgeable folks at your local garden center - before you start digging.

Henry Homeyer is the VT/NH associate editor of People, Places and Plants magazine. His website is www.gardening-guy.com. He may be contacted at gardening.guy@valley.net, or P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.