Choosing bushes for hedges
Recently, a hedge has been a favorite element of landscape design for summer cottages. It not only allows you to save financially on the purchase of the necessary materials for the construction of fences, but also decorates it. And if you pick up plants bearing edible berries for planting, you can generally kill two birds with one stone: build a fence, and get a tasty harvest.
Before choosing which bushes to plant to create hedge, you should decide what it should be - high or low.
The formation of shrubs is also important. If there is no desire to trim them annually, it is better to give preference to free-growing species that do not need pruning.
Low-growing shrubs for hedges
A compact green fence with a height of 0.5 to 2 m is obtained from the following perennials:
- St. John's wort... One of the shortest evergreen shrubs (its height does not exceed 50 cm), but it has a dense and wide, up to 70 cm, crown. The leaves are small, oval, gray-green. From the second half of summer to early autumn, it blooms with large yellow flowers. Needs anti-aging pruning every 4 years. Frost-resistant, shade-tolerant.
- Shrub cinquefoil... Another compact, but already deciduous, shrub up to 1.5 m high. The crown is dense, green leaves are slightly pubescent, inflorescences are white or yellow. Requires shaping haircut in spring.
- Cotoneaster brilliant. Deciduous shrub no more than 2 m high, with a dense crown of numerous dark green leaves, which turn purple by autumn. In late spring, pink inflorescences bloom, in place of which red or black round fruits are formed. It tolerates drought well and is easy to form.
Which bushes are suitable for a tall hedge?
If you need to hide the area from prying eyes, it is better to choose tall shrubs with a height of 3 m and more. Among them, the following look good as a hedge:
- Derain white Elegentissima. The height of the winter-hardy bush is 3 m, the red shoots are straight, bend with age. The leaves are gray with a white border. Requires corrective cropping.
- Tatar maple... Ideal for super-high hedges: the height of a powerful bush with a wide oval crown reaches 10 m. The bark is almost black, the green leaves are elongated, with a trident cut at the tips, lighter on the back. In the fall, the foliage turns red. Inflorescences are white. Drought and frost resistant, can be formed.
- Viburnum diabolo diabolo... A spectacular bush with a spherical crown of drooping shoots up to 3 m high and the same crown diameter. The leaves are corrugated, purple, the flowers are pale pink. It grows well itself, but old shoots must be cut off.