What do you use for hedgerows?

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While playing ball with my two sons yesterday on the side yard, I got to thinking how it would be nice to have a fence there along the road. But than I got to thinking that a hedgerow would prove just as effective, would provide me added privacy, reduce road noise, shelter birds and what not, and be a lot nicer to look at.

I know there are a lot of different things you can grow a hedgerow out of - What do you use? How quickly does it grow? Etc.

-- Eric Stone (ems@nac.net), May 15, 2000

Answers

Eric, check with your county natural resources office or county extension office. There are also a lot of gardening books that have a section of good plants for birds, or are devoted to the subject.

Lilacs are an old standard. Amur maples are fast growing and fragrant when blooming. Dogwoods, Nine-barks, Cranberries. Other options depend on your area, and how big you want your hedge and how much, if any, trimming you want to do.

When making a hedge, most people prefer to use one type of plant. Something to keep in mind is that if a pest or disease strikes, you'll lose your entire hedge-think of what Dutch Elm disease did, the birch borer, Witch's Broom on the honeysuckles. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 15, 2000.


I've been toying with the idea of planting hazelnuts. Bear Creek Nursery has a package deal. Nice hedge, tasty hazelnuts sounds good to me. If you are interested, let me know and I'll look up the address.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), May 15, 2000.

The hazelnuts sound interesting (functional and fruitful!), though the idea of a single plant species for the entire hedgerow bothers me, for reasons Gerbil pointed out.

I'd like to plant a nice mix. Maybe something that doesn't get too tall or require too much trimming out towards the front of the house, with the existing trees mixed in, then as I go down the side yard mix in other plantings.

I know some poeple won't bother with a plant if it isn't producing food for them, but I appreciate God's beauty and like flowers, butterflys, birds, and pretty much whatever else wanders into the yard short of rabid racoons and skunks.

-- Eric Stone (ems@nac.net), May 15, 2000.


Bear Creek Nursey suggests that if you are going to have a hedge of hazelnuts (different varieties) longer than 80 feet to plant an overstory of chestnuts. One of the seed catalogs (Henry Fields ??) may still have a package of flowering hedge shrubs, several different varieties included.

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), May 15, 2000.

We live in the upper west corner of Illinois and by far the best hedgerow plant around here is the multiflora rose bush. Grows fast, spreads by tip layering and has pretty flowers plus you can harvest the rose hips.Watch out though as it can soon overtake a property. The USDA brought the plant here some years ago and now it is on many states noxious weed list! The wildlife love the rose hips and that is another way it spreads.Once it is established it is a thorny unpenetrable hedge.

-- mike (mstydale@aeroinc.net), May 15, 2000.


From reading, I would recommend Osage Orange. Very tough wood (for secondary purposes) and dense growth make an impenetrable hedge.

-- Mike O (olsonmr@yahoo.com), May 15, 2000.

I have multiflora rose growing in all our pastures and it is certainly a noxious weed in my opinion! I would be very careful planting it, actually I wouldnt plant it-but to each his own. I dont think that a hedgerow would be complete without a couple of lilacs. Also a vote for Bear Creek Nursery, I think they have an incredible selection and are very nice to work with-I just called last week and got great info. There # is (509) 732-6219 Address is Bear Creek Nursery PO Box 411 Northport WA 99157 BearCreek@plix.com Tami in WI

-- Tami Bowser (windridg@chorus.net), May 15, 2000.

i would check with your couty agent as i have ordered trees from the state and they are good trees and as they are grown in state they will do well in my state. your agent will be able to advise what will grow in your area as well. gail

-- gail (gef123@hotmail.com), May 16, 2000.

There's a farmer over here that has cedar trees all around his house and buildings, consisting of 2 acres. You can either trim them or let them grow tall. He has trimmed them down to about 7' all the way around. He's got them planted close enough so that as they mature, they form a real nice wall.

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), May 16, 2000.

Siberian Pea Shrubs. It gives the same kind of hedge as a cedar hedge (privacy, wind break, noise reduction) but during part of the year it is covered in little yellow flowers and after that it grows "peas" that you could grind to flour and eat or leave to drop and feed the turkeys, chickens, pheasants, whatever it is that lives at your place.

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), May 17, 2000.


Where do you get Siberian Pea Shrubs?

-- Sandy (tripletreefarm@hotmail.com), May 18, 2000.

There are a number of companies that offer Siberian Peas (Caragana Arborescens) but I like to order from Bearcreek nursery because of the wide variety of unique and adaptable permaculture plants. You can request a free catalog from bearcreek@plix.com.

Here are some interesting excerpts from http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/peatree.html

Plant Portrait - Caragana arborescens
Pea Tree

This article originally appeared in the Jan 1998 edition of the Friends of PFAF newsletter.
The Siberian pea tree is a deciduous shrub that can grow up to 6 metres tall but in practice seldom exceeds about 3 metres. It produces a lentil-size edible seed that can be used in all the ways that lentils are used and has a great potential as a perennial legume...

A very undemanding plant, it succeeds in most well-drained soils, preferring full sun and light sandy dry or well-drained conditions. It tolerates very alkaline soils and will also do well in very poor conditions and on marginal land. This is because it has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby. Thus this is a very good companion plant in woodland and other integrated plantings.

A very cold-tolerant plant, it can withstand temperatures down to about -300c. It prefers a continental climate with long hot summers and cold fairly dry winters, and does not grow so well in areas that do not have very cold winters...

The Siberian pea shrub has an excellent potential to become a staple food crop. The seed is nutritious and wholesome, although rather small it is often very freely borne and is easily harvested. Indeed, once the plant is established, harvesting is about the only work you will ever have to do with it!....the pods containing 4 - 6 seeds are produced in small clumps and are easy to harvest. The flavour is fairly bland, which is an advantage in staple foods since they are then very versatile and can be used in many ways according to which flavourings you add to them. We use them in all the ways that we use lentils, they can also be ground into a powder and used as a protein- enhancing addition to cereal flours. Indeed, the seeds contain up to 36% protein as well as about 12% fats and reasonable quantities of carbohydrate.

The Siberian Pea tree is sometimes grown as a hedge, it is fairly wind-resistant and so can be used to provide some shelter - though it is fairly bare in the winter and will not provide so much shelter at this time. The plant has an extensive root system and so has also been used for erosion control, especially on marginal land where its ability to enrich the soil with nitrogen will encourage the growth of other plants.

Propagation is by seed. This needs to be pre-soaked for about 24 hours in warm water, by which time it should have swollen considerably, and can then be sown in a cold frame in the spring. Germination usually takes place within 2 - 3 weeks and plant should be ready for planting out in the following spring. They should start to crop by the time they are 5 - 8 years old.



-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), May 18, 2000.


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