It just so happened that we are all trying to create our own little “world”, protecting private land from manifestations of the outside world - neighbors and curious passers-by, wind and noise, exhaust gases and the hum of cars. However, not all of us are happy with the prospect of constantly resting our eyes on a slightly unsightly two-meter fence that outlines the boundaries of our possessions. How to make your “kingdom” inaccessible to outsiders, without violating the natural beauty of the garden landscape? The answer to this question is hidden in the depths of the 18th century, when the hedge was first grown - a dense linear planting of garden and park plants, designed to protect and, at the same time, decorate a private territory.
Intimate acquaintance with the green hedge
The green fence located on the border of your land will become a natural barrier to dust, noise and wind, as well as annoying neighbors and uninvited guests. The hedge in the country house is especially good, since it does not require such significant financial investments as the construction of a capital fence. A great option for a summer cottage is a freely growing hedge - it is easy to create it with your own hands, because it does not require a periodic haircut, like regular hedges of the correct geometric shape. Special attention should be paid to a hedge of roses, which will perfectly decorate the facade of the house, a gazebo or a dull fence. The hedge of girl's grapes looks spectacular - she does not need special care, and in the fall red grape leaves will create an elegant atmosphere in the garden.
Types of green hedges
Hedgerows have come a long way in development before finding themselves in our time. This is probably why the hedge formed with the help of ornamental plants has such a variety of species and forms.
Based on such characteristics of hedges as height, we can distinguish three types of this enclosing plantation:
- low borders up to 1 meter in height - to outline the borders of lawns, flower beds, paths
- hedges 1-2 meters high - for dividing the site into functional zones
- living wall with a height of 2 meters or more - for planting along the boundaries of the site
Depending on the intensity of the haircut, green hedges are divided into molded and freely growing. Unlike molded hedges, which are given a clear geometric shape with the help of a haircut, freely growing fences practically do not undergo correction and grow in an arbitrary direction.
Another parameter by which hedges are classified is row planting. The green hedge, when created, the plants are planted in one line, belongs to single-row. Two and three-row hedges suggest the placement of plants in several lines in the form of uneven tiers. A single-row green hedge is formed from plants planted at an equal distance from each other. For shrubs, a planting pitch of approximately 30-50 cm is followed, for trees from 75 to 150 cm. In a multi-row hedge, plants are planted in a checkerboard pattern, while the distance between them is maintained depending on the expected crown size and height.
Multi-row cascading hedges create with a certain degree of imagination, combining freely growing and molded “steps” from various types of shrubs and trees. A beautiful flowering fence can be created with the help of an unformed hedge of honeysuckle, snowdrops, barberry and other shrubs. For planting hedges of a mixed type, plants of the same species, but of a different variety, with different colors of foliage or needles, are used. Look good combination of purple and green beech, green and variegated privet or holly. Such multi-layer fences take up a lot of space, but more effectively protect against unwanted looks and intrusions, a gassed atmosphere and the noise of the motorway.
Selection of plants for green hedges
When choosing plants for planting in the form of hedges, it is better to give preference to those that have passed the “test of strength” in domestic climatic conditions. It should be winter-hardy, unpretentious plants with dense foliage, which are well restored after cutting and have a high ability to form shoots. It is worth paying attention to such trees as maple, hornbeam, thorns and shrubs - privet, hawthorn, cotoneaster. The hedges of jasmine, sea buckthorn, rhododendron, barberry, honeysuckle, wrinkled roses, lilacs, and irgi look spectacular. To create a green hedge, plants with fine foliage are selected, which, with periodic cutting, form a uniform surface.
The order of planting green hedges
When choosing planting material for hedges, you need to look at the root system and the crown of plants - the roots should not be overdried, the crown should be uniform in shape. For planting a plantation in the form of a hedge, young shrubs and trees from 3 to 6 years old are selected, which are sufficiently developed and are able to easily take root in new conditions.
Before forming a green fence, it is necessary to study how to properly plant a hedge so that plants do not lack in the sun, moisture and nutrients. In this regard, an important point is the selection of places for planting hedges and the season for transferring plants to open ground. As a rule, the hedge is laid in the spring, after the soil has already dried up, or in the fall, if winter-hardy plants are chosen to form the living fence. The location for the green hedge is selected far from the buildings - at a distance of at least 2 meters and 0.5-1.5 meters from the capital fence.
Also, material on the requirements for the distance from the fence to the buildings will be useful: //diz-cafe.com/plan/rasstoyanie-ot-zabora-do-postrojki.html
Before planting the hedge, it is necessary to outline the line of its location with a taut cord. A trench is dug along the line of marking with a depth of about 0.5 meters. The width of the trench depends on the row of the green hedge - for single-row it is 40-50 cm, for multi-row - plus 50 cm for each subsequent row. The density of planting the hedge is affected by the characteristics of specific plants, the estimated height and number of rows of a live fence.
The density of planting seedlings per 1 meter of hedges:
- low shrub (mahonia, spirea) of 5-7 bushes;
- medium bush (snow berry, cotoneaster) 4-5 bushes;
- tall (2-3 m) trees and bushes (cysticis, hawthorn) 1-2 plants.
Planting coniferous hedges
When planting conifers, a hole is dug up with a diameter 2 times the size of the rhizome. Garden soil, excavated by digging a pit, is mixed with compost, organic fertilizer and silica, and then the bottom of the pit is sprinkled with it. Conifers are most often sold in plastic containers. Before planting, the plant is carefully removed from the container and planted in open ground with an untouched earthen lump. After the tree is installed in the planting hole, it is covered with earth, which is then compacted, but not rammed. At some distance from the planting line, an irrigation ridge is formed in the form of a low mound, which prevents the spreading of water. At the end of planting, plants abundantly watered.
Coniferous species and their use in garden landscaping can be found in the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/xvojnye-v-landshaftnom-dizajne.html
Planting hedges of deciduous plants
Deciduous medium-tall or tall shrubs and trees are sold mainly with a bare root system, which is washed before planting for several hours and pruned, removing damaged and long processes. A pit for planting is prepared with the expectation of planting a plant to a depth not exceeding that to which it was planted earlier. The earth, taken out of the pit, is mixed with organic fertilizers, compost and partially returned to the bottom of the pit. A bush or tree is placed in a pit and sprinkled with the remaining soil, monitoring the density of the backfill - so that voids do not form between the roots of the plant. If the tree has a high trunk, a support stake is hammered into the bottom of the pit, to a depth of about 50 cm, to which, after planting, the tree is loosely tied.
Planting a hedge of shrubs
Seedlings of low shrubs are usually grown in plastic containers that provide the root system of the plant with reliable protection. This allows you not to adhere to clear deadlines for planting bushes in open ground. A hole for planting a bush is prepared taking into account the size of the rhizome of the plant and earthen coma. When planting, the plant is freed from the container with the preservation of an earthen coma and placed in a dug hole. After filling the voids of the landing pit with earth, the topsoil is slightly compacted and watered.
To plant a large shrub, you need to dig a trench with a width of about 1 m and a depth of 50-60 cm.The bottom of the trench is loosened with a pitchfork to a depth of 20 cm and the loosened layer of earth is mixed with peat, humus, manure or compost. It is good to add lime, wood ash and some phosphate fertilizers.
Material will help you choose the best varieties of ornamental shrubs: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/dekorativnye-kustarniki-dlya-sada.html
Planting a hedge fence
Quite often, when a hedge is formed in the country, saving space in a small garden is put at the forefront. How can a hedge be grown in the cramped conditions of a land allotment limited to 6 hundred parts? In order to create a green hedge in the form of a thick, but not wide trellis, plants are planted at a small distance from each other - about 20 cm. A hedge hedge looks great if it is formed from plants such as yellow acacia, willow, mountain ash or hawthorn .
A year later, planted trees and shrubs are cut, as they say, “on a stump” - leaving 10-15 cm of the aerial part of the plant. A year later, in the spring, they carry out a major pruning of the hedge, preserving several of the strongest shoots that are interwoven crosswise at an angle of 45 degrees, cutting off the bark at the points of contact of the branches. The resulting diamond-shaped “pattern” is fixed on the frame in the form of a lattice structure built on the basis of stakes driven into the ground with a small pitch and cross members.
Subsequently, all lateral shoots of the trellis are cut 2-3 times per season, adhering to a vertical plane, which stimulates further branching of the hedge up. Regular side cutting of the hedge hedge is aimed at creating its uniform width - about 30 cm. The tapestry is also cut from above, maintaining a certain height of the green fence.
Green hedge care
When laying a green fence on an individual or summer cottage, it should be borne in mind that the care of hedges during the season is much more difficult than with ordinary garden plants. This is largely due to the fact that the hedge must be tirelessly monitored - to water, fertilize and mow. If the issue of hedge trimming and trimming without proper attention is taken into account, it can grow so much that it will be impossible to put it in order and you will have to cut the landing “to zero”.
Rules for haircuts and trimming
Landing pruning
Deciduous varieties of trees and shrubs formed into a hedge are severely cut immediately after planting, leaving 10-15 cm of the aerial part of the seedling to accelerate the growth of shoots at the base. If the seedlings were purchased with a bare root system, then the pruning of the aerial part must be done at half the existing height. Seedlings grown in a container, cut to one third of the height.
Pruning in Season Two
After a year, the planted hedge is trimmed about 4 times per season - from May to August. Easy pruning in the second year of existence of the hedge is aimed at giving the landing a certain shape and increasing the branching density.
Strong pruning, to a height of about 15 cm from the soil surface, requires the following shrubs: privet, hawthorn, blackthorn, tamarix. Cut to 1/3 of the height of new shoots: cotoneaster, hornbeam, barberry, boxwood, beech. Cardinal pruning is not required: juniper, laurel cherry, cypress, cypress. In such hedges, only individual branches are cut, which are knocked out of the total mass and give the hedge an untidy look.
Pruning a hedge is done so that its lower part is wider. than the top
Haircut after 2-3 years
In the following years, hedge trimming is done to give the decorative fence a neat appearance - the lateral branching is cut off, the upper shoots are slightly trimmed. Deciduous trees and bushes are trimmed in early spring - even before the appearance of young leaves, evergreen conifers can be cut in later spring or early fall.
It's important to know! When cutting a green hedge, the base is formed slightly wider than the top, so that the lower branches are adequately illuminated and, accordingly, develop.
A hedge of evergreen or small-leaved plants is trimmed with an electric tool or scissors.A pruning shear is used to trim and trim large-leaved hedges.
Watering and feeding
During the season, the hedge must be regularly watered, previously loosening the soil 50-70 cm on both sides of the planting. When watering, a stream of water is sent directly to the base of the plants, providing soil moisture to a depth of 30-40 cm.
In addition to watering, green hedges need to be fed with organic and mineral fertilizers. Organic fertilizers - compost, deciduous humus, peat are introduced into the excavated soil in early spring or autumn in an amount of 2 to 5 kg per square meter of land. Mineral fertilizers - nitrogen and phosphate-potash are added to the soil depending on the season: nitrogen only in early spring, phosphate - mainly in late summer and early autumn. Autumn bait may consist of such components: 30-40 g of potassium salt, 50-70 g of superphosphate, 50-70 g of ammonium sulfate.