Trees And Shrubs For Hedges

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Trees And Shrubs For Hedges
Trees And Shrubs For Hedges

Video: Trees And Shrubs For Hedges

Video: Trees And Shrubs For Hedges
Video: How to plant an instant hedge 2024, March
Anonim
  • The history of the hedge
  • Types and methods of arranging hedges
  • Choosing plants for hedges
  • DIY hedge planting
  • Pruning, trimming and maintaining hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

Fencing the territory of a house in the suburbs or in a garden partnership is not an easy task, given that the fence should become an integral part of the overall landscape and at the same time ensure complete safety for household members. And all these functions are feasible for a hedge, the dense foliage of which will hide the courtyard from prying eyes, and the interweaving of branches and thorns will prevent intruders from penetrating better than barbed wire.

The history of the hedge

The art of altering the crown of plants, giving it the correct geometric shape and even creating living sculptures on its basis, first appeared over 2000 years ago in Ancient Persia. Persian gardeners brought him to Egypt, where their art was to the liking of the local nobility. The decorative shearing of shrubs and trees came to Europe together with the ancient Roman legions - during the wars of conquest of the Roman emperors, thousands of slaves from the East flocked to the "eternal city". Roman patricians highly appreciated the gardening techniques of Persia; on the territory of their villas, gardeners created compositions from boxwood bushes, laurels, oaks and viburnum, trimmed in the form of figures of animals, birds, temples and ships, female and male figures. Boxwood hedges of regular geometric shape divided the gardens in the estates into zones, formed labyrinths and fenced garden paths. In the Roman Empire, guild unions of gardeners even appeared, specializing exclusively in the creation of compositions and figures from tree crowns.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

The fashion for gardens with shrubs and trees, whose crowns were shorn, spread to the European provinces of the Roman Empire. However, this art of decorating gardens disappeared with the fall of Ancient Rome, leaving behind only its name - topiary.

After 12 centuries, the Renaissance era began in Europe, reviving topiary art in a new look, since its previous aspects were lost. An example to follow in the design of gardens for European monarchs and aristocrats was the landscape of the garden of the country palace of Versailles, created by order of the French king Louis XIV by the architect le North in the early 17th century.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

A century later, cutting trees and bushes became out of fashion, under the influence of philosophers and poets, it was recognized as inappropriate to nature - natural gardens took its place.

However, topiary art has not disappeared - not even a century has passed since American settlers from Europe revived it again. One simplification that has made it possible to reduce the dependence of garden owners on the expensive services of gardening sculptors has emerged - wire frames that form the shape of a particular sculpture. Such a frame was put on the crown of a tree, fixed on the ground and all branches protruding beyond the frame perimeter were cut off. Thanks to this simplification, the fashion for living sculptures from bushes and trees, which could now be easily created by any gardener with the time and hedgehogs, spread both in North America and around the world.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

The first, decorated in the style of topiary, garden in Russia was the St. Petersburg Summer Garden - its landscape was sustained in strict geometric lines with extensive use of trimmed hedges.

Types and methods of arranging hedges

Plants used to form hedges are divided into:

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Deciduous (deciduous and evergreen, flowering and curly). Plants of this group are less demanding on the conditions of keeping, their foliage helps to scatter light.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Conifers. Among evergreens, conifers are more demanding to care for, their seedlings will cost gardeners a little more than deciduous seedlings.

The deciduous hornbeam, barberry, hawthorn, beech, Japanese quince, common privet and cotoneaster are the plants most commonly used to create hedges. Plants that form deciduous hedges are low maintenance and inexpensive, allowing them to be planted in a variety of climates without compromising homeowners' budgets. Depending on the season, the overall color of the deciduous hedge will change, bringing newness to the landscape of the summer cottage. The lack of foliage on such a hedge with the onset of spring will accelerate the melting of snow along its perimeter, since the sun's rays will freely pass between the bare branches.

Evergreen hedges are made of juniper, boxwood, yew, cypress, thuja and all varieties of spruce. Compared to deciduous, evergreens do not shed their foliage, which in itself is a huge advantage - you will not have to solve the problem of harvesting fallen leaves and its disposal in the fall. The density of evergreen hedges does not change throughout the year, i.e. regardless of the current season, it retains the functions of an impenetrable fence around the perimeter of the site. However, it is more troublesome with plants that form such a hedge than with deciduous ones - they grow slowly, are highly sensitive to sunlight in the spring (they need to be protected from the sun with impenetrable barriers), they need frequent shearing and pruning of dry branches.

A hedge of flowering plants, such as wild rose, honeysuckle, some varieties of roses, thorns and evergreen broom, becomes not just a fence - a fragrant flower garden! The disadvantage of this kind of hedges is the impossibility of cutting them during the flowering period of plants and during this period they can grow very violently, which will damage the appearance of the fence, completely violating its geometry.

Climbing plants as a hedge is a kind of compromise between a full-fledged artificial fence and a hedge. Clematis, wood liana, petiolate hydrangea and wild grapes will block the plane of the fence, tightening it with a solid green canvas, protecting the site from street noise and dust. The disadvantage of a climbing fence is that it requires a vertical support from a lattice or mesh, because climbing plants are not able to climb up independently.

According to the method of arrangement, hedges are:

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Uniform, consisting of several plants of the same species, planted in one or more rows.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Combined, which include various types of trees and shrubs, often planted in tiers. The most successful combinations are thorny plants with thornless plants, large-leaved with small-leaved plants, with foliage of various colors, etc.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trellis, consisting of trees planted in rows, the branches of which are intertwined. To create trellis hedges, trees are needed, whose branches are sufficiently plastic and capable of withstanding bends without damage.

Depending on the height, hedges are subdivided into curb (up to 0.5 m high), low (up to 1 m high), medium (up to 1.5 m high) and high (over 1.5 m high). Fences-borders are designed to decorate the perimeter of paths, flower beds and to create decorative landscape ornaments. The exact height of other types of hedges is determined by design solutions for landscape design, as well as their functional purpose.

Finally, hedges can be clipped or free-growing. For hedges of the first type, constant care is needed, otherwise it will not be possible to preserve the geometric shape. Shearing is harmful to plants, so such hedges are made from particularly resistant species - mountain pine, spruce, cotoneaster and yew, which form a dense crown almost at ground level. Free-growing hedges usually consist of fruiting and flowering plants with a relatively regular crown shape - barberry, spirea, mock-rose and rose hips.

Choosing plants for hedges

Plants for its creation are selected according to the purposes for which the hedge is created. To facilitate the task with the choice, we will consider the functionality of the green fence, depending on the variety and type of plants from which it consists.

If you need to reliably hide the site from outside observers in the warm season, get a more attractive background for the garden than the view of neighboring buildings and the street, and also keep the masses of snow on your site in the cold season - a hedge of deciduous trees is needed. For fencing the perimeter to a height of more than 2.5 m, deciduous trees of the following varieties are used - common and felt cherry, common and Amur barberry, white and blood-red turf, tree caragana, common hazel, chokeberry, common and Hungarian lilac, common chebushnik, narrow-leaved and silvery sucker, Tatar and Poppy honeysuckle, Tatar and Ginnala maple, smooth and spiky irga, mountain ash-leaved fieldberry.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

Deciduous hedges with a height of 1.2 to 2 m are created from shrubs: willow, gray sharp-toothed and Van Gutta spirea; alpine and bedspread honeysuckle; a shiny cotoneaster; shrub caragana; alpine and golden currants; gray, dog and wrinkled roses; barberry Tauberg; white snowberry. In addition to fencing the boundaries of the site, a shrub fence of this height can be used for zoning the site.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

A full-fledged external hedge of deciduous trees and bushes will turn out if you plant plants at a short distance, almost closely, in a timely manner, trim and trim them. If the characteristics described above for a high hedge are not enough, a reliable barrier against noise, dust and wind is required, saturating the atmosphere of the site with volatile phytoncides and retaining a green color regardless of the season - conifers are needed. To create a coniferous hedge, western thuja, common and Virginian juniper, Serbian, prickly or common spruce are used.

Fences of lower height are rarely used as an external fence - they are more suitable for dividing the site into zones. For these purposes, shrubs with a height of 1 to 1.2 m are suitable: shrub and orange caragana; three-lobed, nippon, birch-leaved and Japanese spirea; ferruginous and Besseya cherries; steppe almonds; shrub cinquefoil.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

For curb hedges from 0.5 to 0.7 m in height, emphasizing the boundaries of internal paths on the site, dwarf varieties of caragana "Pygmaea" and "Nana", varieties of Japanese spirea "Little Princess" and "Golden Princess", lingonberry, holly magnolia …

Thorny hedges, outwardly attractive from the position of the best obstacle for outsiders, can harm the owners of the area fenced with such a hedge - both for adults in the process of cutting, and for small children known for their carelessness (if among the household there are preschool children - refuse to plant prickly hedges!). It is possible to create a dense thorny fence from the following plant varieties - blackthorn, eleutherococcus thorny, hawthorns, rose hips, Manchurian aralia, barberries, tree caragana (yellow acacia).

DIY hedge planting

First of all, let's evaluate the illumination, moisture and soil composition:

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Shaded area. In conditions of insufficient illumination, Alpine and Tatar honeysuckle, common hazel, Tatar maple, blood-red and white dogwood take root best of all.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Well-lit, dry area. Shrub and tree caragana, narrow-leaved sucker, barberries, golden currants will grow well here.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Dry, sandy soil. For planting in such places, a dog rose, a brilliant cotoneaster, a sand cherry, a buckthorn buckthorn, a steppe almond, a narrow-leaved and silvery elk, caragana are suitable.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Excessively moist soil. A hedge in such conditions should be created from white and five-stalked willow, gray and shrub alder.

Among the plants used for hedges, the most unpretentious to the characteristics of the soil are brilliant cotoneaster, willow spirea, white turf, trembling, canadian and black poplar, tartar and common honeysuckle, tree and shrub caragana, buckthorn buckthorn, alpine and golden currant.

The optimal size of the planted seedlings directly depends on the purpose of their planting - if a hedge is planted only as a decoration for an existing fence, then tall seedlings can be used. If you create a full-fledged hedge only from plants that have to adapt to unfavorable conditions, such as constant dust, strong winds and gas pollution from cars passing along the street, then the most correct would be to use seedlings no higher than 1 m. Do not use when creating a living hedges of exotic plants from the southern climatic zones - most of them will inevitably die.

Planting hedges in temperate climates should be done in the spring; in more southern climates, autumn planting is allowed. Pay attention to the age of the seedlings: deciduous plants are best planted at the age of 2-3 years; conifers should be more mature - at least 7-8 years old. When choosing seedlings in a nursery, find out to what height this plant variety will grow in a year - you need to know how quickly your hedge will gain the optimal height. For example, a yew tree grows 1.5 m in 8 years, a barberry in 6 years, and a thuja in 5 years.

To plant tall large-sized plants, you will need to open a hole for each plant. When preparing the pit, one should focus on the root system of the plant - the depth and width of the pit should be such that the extreme roots do not reach the walls and bottom by about 100-150 mm. The optimal shape of the holes for planting large-sized fish is a square, with vertical (sheer) walls.

Medium and low seedlings are planted in trenches 500-600 mm deep, the width of which depends on the number of rows of plants: the width of a single-row trench is 500-700 mm; double row - 700-900 mm; three-row - 1000 mm. Two-row hedges are planted in a checkerboard pattern, three-row hedges are planted in fives, similar to the arrangement of 5 points on a dice, while the lateral points of the neighboring “fives” are common.

The distance between the seedlings of deciduous plants and the width of the trench itself depends on their height:

  • tall plants, the height of which is within or slightly more than 2 m (if higher, separate holes are needed for each) are planted in one row. They need a trench 600-800 mm wide, the distance between seedlings is from 1 to 2 m;
  • medium-sized shrub plants can be planted both single-row and double-row. The distance between single-row seedlings is 500-800 mm, two-row planting - 700-1000 mm with rows spaced 400-600 mm apart;
  • undersized shrubs are planted in one row, two-row or three-row. For single-row planting, the distance between adjacent plants is 400-500 mm, for planting in two and three rows - 250-400 mm, with a distance between rows of 300-400 mm;
  • border plants are usually planted in one row with 250-300 mm spacing between plants.

Trimmed coniferous hedges are planted in one and two rows, the distance between seedlings of one row is 800-1000 mm, with a two-row planting, the distance between rows is 500-600 mm. Fences, consisting of free-growing conifers, are planted in one row at a distance depending on their height. The distance between 2-3 meter spruce trees should be from 2 to 2.5 m, between thuja seedlings - 1 m, between juniper seedlings - 0.7 m.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

Fences of flowering plants are planted only in one row and at a sufficiently large distance between the trunks - from 1 to 2.5 m. When this distance decreases, the decorative properties of a flowering fence will be seriously lost due to a lack of nutrients and sunlight.

Climbing plants are planted in one row in the immediate vicinity of the trellis on which they will lean as they grow. The distance between the planted seedlings is 300 mm.

Having finished the work on digging holes or trenches for seedlings, we begin to plant them:

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
With excessive soil moisture, drainage is necessary - pits (trenches) are torn off 200 mm deeper than necessary, then a 200 mm layer of gravel, crushed stone or expanded clay is poured onto their bottom (rubble rubble will not work!)
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
At the bottom of each hole (trench), pour the top layer of soil (without sod), cut during the digging process.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
A mixture is compiled to fill pits (trenches) after placing seedlings in them. Its composition is two parts of compost, one part of black peat (non-acidic!) And one part of washed river sand.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
The seedling is released from the container in which its roots are located, near the planting site. If the root system of the seedlings was not placed in a container, they should be placed in a container with an aqueous suspension of clay - this measure will protect the roots from drying out. An earthen lump from conifers cannot be removed when planting them! When planting, carefully straighten the roots of the plant, cut off too long and dry. After placing the seedling in a hole (trench), fill it with the prepared potting mixture, gently squeeze the soil around the trunk to remove air pockets.
Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges
After planting, the plants are watered abundantly with warm water, then the soil around each trunk is mulched with bark, peat or wood chips in order to retain moisture in it.

Pruning, trimming and maintaining hedges

First of all, let's define what is the difference between trimming and cutting. The purpose of pruning the plants that make up the hedge is to improve the quality of the plant, i.e. elimination of dry and intersecting branches, restoration of the ability to flowering, fruiting and growth, stimulating the development of new shoots, maintaining optimal illumination in the crown. In turn, the haircut is necessary to enhance the aesthetic characteristics, i.e. it is necessary to obtain a crown of a certain geometric shape, saturated with permanent (skeletal) branches.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

The first pruning of a deciduous hedge is carried out immediately after planting the seedlings - their trunks are cut at a distance of 100-150 mm from the ground, which will cause the rapid development of multiple shoots at the lowest point of the trunk and will allow the formation of a dense hedge containing a significant number of shoots (forming pruning). After pruning and for the first year after planting, the seedlings are left alone, keeping the topsoil loose, removing any weeds and watering in dry weather.

In the second year of the hedge's life, the trunks of its constituent plants are cut by a third, i.e. exactly half of the increase for the year. The result will be an active growth of central and lateral shoots, from which a dense crown will form in the future. Formative pruning is carried out annually during the first 3-4 years of plant life, the duration of this period depends on the speed of their development.

Deciduous plants with a mature crown undergo maintenance pruning, performed 2 or 3 times per season. The first pruning is carried out in May-early June, the second in mid-July and the third in the end of August. If the plant grows slowly, then two pruns will be sufficient. Which branches are cut: all dry, broken and diseased; protruding beyond the maximum permissible hedge height; part of the central branches, in order to replace them with lateral ones (they are also cut off, but to a shorter length); to thinning the crown, interference branches are eliminated, cutting off lighting for most others. Supportive pruning stimulates dormant buds and encourages lateral shoot growth.

Coniferous hedges are also formally pruned. If the coniferous plant is less than 3 years old, then no pruning is carried out, otherwise it will not be possible to get a dense hedge. At the time of planting, coniferous seedlings, unlike deciduous plants, are not cut off - they are left one year for adaptation. Starting from the second year of growth, pruning of conifers is carried out in late May-early June - with pruning shears, annual apical and lateral shoots are cut, the first is shortened by a third, the second by two-thirds.

After cutting, the cuts of large branches must be covered with garden varnish or oil paint, and this must be done within 20 minutes from the moment the branches were cut.

Trees and shrubs for hedges
Trees and shrubs for hedges

Trimming a hedge is a topiary art and requires the involvement of an experienced gardener or wire frame to shape the hedge to fit the plants. To carry out a haircut, the most correct would be to use a hand pruner - electric scissors and chainsaws will damage the foliage, in addition, it is impossible to give the crown an ideal shape with their help, there will be flaws in any case.

The need for watering the planted hedge is directly related to the planting season - if it was carried out in the fall, then additional watering is not required, there will be enough natural precipitation in the autumn-winter season. In the case of a spring planting, the hedge must be watered once a week - from 20 to 25 liters of water for each of its running meters. After each watering, it is imperative to loosen the soil, otherwise a dense crust will form on its surface. It is worth noting that drip irrigation has a particularly successful effect on the growth and development of hedges. In summer, if the weather is dry and hot, you should spray the crowns of plants in the hedge with water twice a day, carrying out this operation in the morning and in the evening.

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