Hedges
serve many purposes in a garden. These living walls can block the wind, ensure
privacy, or simply establish one area of the garden from another. You can use shrubs
for hedges; however, you can also try making trees into hedges. What trees make
good hedges? Read on for some ideas on using trees as hedge plants.
What Trees Make Good Hedges?
Farmers have been using trees as hedge plants for hundreds
of years. Often, they would use a local tree species that grows well in the
area and simply plant them close together to form hedgerows.
Today, homeowners tend to make hedges by planting one type
of evergreen
tree in a straight line. Popular choices for trees to prune into hedges
include slender, upright evergreens like Spartan
juniper or Emerald
arborvitae. These trees both grow to 15 feet (5 m.) tall and 3 feet (1 m.)
wide.
In many cases, evergreens are the best trees for hedges.
They retain their foliage year round so your hedge can serve as a windbreak or
a privacy screen during all four seasons.
If you are looking for a quick windbreak, one of the best
trees for hedges is the fast-growing Green
Giant thuja. Left to its own devices, Green Giant gets 30 to 40 feet (9–12
m.) tall and half as wide. Also good for large landscapes, Green Giant will
need steady pruning for smaller backyards. Trimming a hedge tree can take the
form of shearing.
Varieties of holly
(Ilex spp.) also make great evergreen hedges. Holly is attractive, grows
red berries beloved by birds, and the trees are long lived. This can prove
important in a hedge.
Flowering deciduous trees make charming hedges to mark a
property line or section off an area of the backyard. The look of the hedge
changes from season to season.
You could use any combination of fruit
trees for a flowering hedge. Don’t forget to consider trees like bottlebrush
buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), summersweet
(Clethra alnifolia), border
forsythia (Forsythia intermedia), or Chinese
loropetalum (Loropetalum chinense).
Many homeowners decide to include a mix of different trees
and shrubs into a hedge, as this offers protection from losing the entire hedge
in case of a tree disease or devastating pest. If you mix evergreens with
deciduous and flowering trees, you are also increasing your landscape’s
biodiversity. This creates a habitat for a wide variety of beneficial insects,
birds and animals.
Hedges
serve many purposes in a garden. These living walls can block the wind, ensure
privacy, or simply establish one area of the garden from another. You can use shrubs
for hedges; however, you can also try making trees into hedges. What trees make
good hedges? Read on for some ideas on using trees as hedge plants.
What Trees Make Good Hedges?
Farmers have been using trees as hedge plants for hundreds
of years. Often, they would use a local tree species that grows well in the
area and simply plant them close together to form hedgerows.
Today, homeowners tend to make hedges by planting one type
of evergreen
tree in a straight line. Popular choices for trees to prune into hedges
include slender, upright evergreens like Spartan
juniper or Emerald
arborvitae. These trees both grow to 15 feet (5 m.) tall and 3 feet (1 m.)
wide.
In many cases, evergreens are the best trees for hedges.
They retain their foliage year round so your hedge can serve as a windbreak or
a privacy screen during all four seasons.
If you are looking for a quick windbreak, one of the best
trees for hedges is the fast-growing Green
Giant thuja. Left to its own devices, Green Giant gets 30 to 40 feet (9–12
m.) tall and half as wide. Also good for large landscapes, Green Giant will
need steady pruning for smaller backyards. Trimming a hedge tree can take the
form of shearing.
Varieties of holly
(Ilex spp.) also make great evergreen hedges. Holly is attractive, grows
red berries beloved by birds, and the trees are long lived. This can prove
important in a hedge.
Flowering deciduous trees make charming hedges to mark a
property line or section off an area of the backyard. The look of the hedge
changes from season to season.
You could use any combination of fruit
trees for a flowering hedge. Don’t forget to consider trees like bottlebrush
buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), summersweet
(Clethra alnifolia), border
forsythia (Forsythia intermedia), or Chinese
loropetalum (Loropetalum chinense).
Many homeowners decide to include a mix of different trees
and shrubs into a hedge, as this offers protection from losing the entire hedge
in case of a tree disease or devastating pest. If you mix evergreens with
deciduous and flowering trees, you are also increasing your landscape’s
biodiversity. This creates a habitat for a wide variety of beneficial insects,
birds and animals.