I hear it all too often: “My new neighbor just cut down all the trees and shrubs between our properties, and now they can see right into our house. What can I plant?”
The answer: a hedge.
Sometimes, the problem is a road or water tank that needs screening. Maybe you want something that will also offer needed food and shelter for wildlife — and, of course, you’d like it to be super-low maintenance.
Whatever your goal, hedgerows, as the English call them, are endlessly variable.
If you’re planning a living fence of contrasting colors and textures, consider some of the following factors.
Many people only think of plants that remain evergreen when they need screening. However, if you use one-third deciduous plants to two-thirds evergreens, they will weave together and you won’t be able to tell where one leaves off and another begins. This makes mature hedges secure borders, especially if you throw a few barberries or other prickly plants into the mix. You’ll also get seasonal interest, with fall color and berries for wildlife.
Pittosporum, photinia and English laurel make great screens and hedges, but what other plants can you use that are beautiful, productive and practical in all seasons?
Many times, a screen may start in the sun but end up in mostly shade. For your sunnier spots, why not mix in a few dwarf fruit trees for you to enjoy, with ceanothus and Pacific wax myrtle for the birds, barberry for beautiful foliage and fall color, spirea, rockrose, escallonia and quince for their bright flowers, and fragrant lilacs to cut in the spring? The shadier side can include Oregon grape for fragrant, yellow winter flowers, snowberry for those striking white berries in the fall, bush anemone, oak-leaf hydrangea, viburnum and native mock orange or philadelphus lewisii for blossoms in the spring.
Mulch around your plants and install drip irrigation to keep down the amount of maintenance you’ll need to do. There won’t be any pruning if you choose plants that grow just to the height you want.
Mixed hedges appeal to bees, butterflies and songbirds, while also providing flowers, berries and color throughout the year for you.
How close should you plant a mixed hedge? If you want a quick, thick screen, space plants 2 feet to 4 feet apart. That gives hedges room to breathe and develop their own shapes. Fast-growing plants can be spaced 4 feet to 5 feet apart and will usually fill in within five years.
Make sure to provide the best growing environment for the fastest results. By this I mean amending the soil at planting time, mulching, fertilizing several times a year and watering deeply when needed, especially during the first three years after planting, when young plants put on a lot of growth.
Formal hedges are fine for some gardens, but think of all the added benefits you’ll get planting a mixed hedge.
• Jan Nelson, a California certified nursery professional at Plant Works in Ben Lomond, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. E-mail her at
ja******@ao*.com
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