Each site requires a reliable fence. A fast-growing, perennial hedge will be an excellent alternative to a traditional fence; it will not only protect your property from prying eyes and uninvited guests, but will also color the entire territory.

With thoughtful selection, shrubs will not take much time and effort to care for, but in return they will give naturally a renewable fence that performs several important functions at once.

Requirements for fast-growing shrubs and hedges

Perennial shrub plants chosen for edging the site can be deciduous and evergreen, tall and very small, decorative deciduous, flowering and even fruit-bearing.

At the same time, a hedge based on them not only plays the role of a “green border”, it:

  • helps to divide the space inside into functional zones;
  • purifies the air, and when choosing flowering shrubs, it is a honey plant and a serious bait for pollinating insects;
  • changing appearance throughout the year, decorates the territory;
  • holds loose soil on the slopes of ravines, prevents soil erosion;
  • protects garden and vegetable plantings from cold air and direct sunlight.

The fastest-growing hedge shrubs themselves have several important requirements. Such plants should not only be distinguished by the speed of shoot formation, but also:

  • unpretentiousness, that is, without painstaking care;
  • frost resistance, especially in regions with harsh winters and the danger of spring return cold;
  • durability;
  • ability to form uniformly dense green wall;
  • good tolerance to regular formative pruning.

Caring for plantings will be much easier if fast-growing hedge bushes do not grow over time, leaving the boundaries of their designated areas.

True, it is not always possible to find such cultures. Therefore, summer residents use simple agrotechnical techniques to help curb the indomitable desire of shrubs to take up as much space as possible. The easiest way to limit the planting trenches during planting is to dig in sheets of slate to the depth of the root system.

Which hedge shrubs grow quickly and best satisfy the above requirements?

Types of fast-growing shrubs for hedges

Recently, evergreen species have often been used to create hedges. Such plantings retain their color brightness regardless of the season. Junipers and thujas are easy to trim and hold their given shape perfectly. However, conifers have one drawback - in most cases they grow slowly.

In deciduous crops, the growth rate is much higher than in conifers, and their high decorative value from spring to autumn compensates for the lack of foliage in winter.

What types of shrubs are suitable for perennial, fast-growing hedges? A small selection of well-known plants with photos will help you make the right choice.

Barberry

It deservedly occupies one of the first places in popularity among such breeds. Plants with shoots densely covered with dense foliage tolerate both pruning and Russian winters excellently. They can be safely recommended as fast-growing hedge plants for the Moscow region, other areas of the middle zone and even further north.

Thanks to the leaves and fruits that remain on the branches for a long time, the hedge, changing its appearance, remains attractive throughout the year. And the presence of thorns on dense branches adds to its reliability. Today, summer residents have at their disposal enough orts not only with traditional green foliage, but also crimson-purple and golden. From variety to variety, the maximum possible height of the plants, and therefore the hedge, also varies significantly.

Bladderwort

For medium-height fences, strict or free form is often chosen. The leaves of the plant are shaped like viburnum foliage, lush flowering, occurring in the first half of summer, is no less impressive than that of viburnum or spirea. In addition, the average growth of this winter-hardy and completely picky shrub per year is about 40 cm.

With regular trimming, a perennial hedge made of fast-growing shrubs is not so densely covered with flowers, but acquires additional density and solidity. If the bladderwort is not trimmed, the width and height of the crown can reach 4 meters.

Snowberry

For small decorative fences and borders there is no better shrub than snowberry. A hedge based on a plant grows up to 80–120 cm, and although it does not have sufficient density, it is interesting at any time of the year.

From the end of the vein until mid-summer, white or pink flowers. Then, in their place, unusual fruits appear, similar to lumps of snow. They remain on the bush even in winter.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn is incredibly popular among landscape designers. The photo of a fast-growing hedge shrub shows that the plant not only meets all the requirements for such crops, it remains decorative from spring until late autumn.

By choosing one of the tall types of hawthorn, you can surround your house and garden with a dense green wall, which actively attracts bees in the spring, and by the end of summer pleases with clusters of ripening fruits.

On the branches of many varieties of hawthorn there are peculiar lignified outgrowths that look like long thorns. They will help make the fence not only tall and attractive, but also impregnable.

Derain white

An amazing tall, fast-growing shrub in all respects, it is good for fences with a height of 120 to 180 cm.

Due to the wide crown of the plant, it needs regular and fairly frequent pruning. But a grown hedge in winter, thanks to the bright reddish tint of the shoots, will be an excellent reference point.

In spring, it blooms on a shrub with variegated foliage in silver-green, pink-green or yellow-green tones, and by autumn, white spherical fruits appear in place of white clusters.

Caragana or yellow acacia

This ornamental plant is extremely winter-hardy, unpretentious and can easily do without regular watering.

Yellow locust can be used as a small tree or fast-growing hedge shrub. The fit in this case turns out to be dense, flexible, and decorative. The height of such a fence can reach 4 meters. The plant holds its shape well and does not tend to form a lot of shoots. It will be useful in the garden as an excellent honey plant.

Park and polyanthus rose

Hedges made from park and bushes look incredibly beautiful, lush and stylish.

Plants by their very appearance create the atmosphere of a Victorian garden, while such hedges are not given a strict shape, but only support the decorative appearance of the bush. However, we must remember that all roses tend to produce shoots, which are carefully cut out.

A luxurious free-style hedge is made from various types spirea, which responds well to mock orange cuttings, and is also traditionally grown on summer cottages lilac. All these crops bloom excellently and survive the winter without loss.

Blackthorn and other thorny fast-growing shrubs for hedges

It is not surprising that crops with thorns are often chosen for green garden fencing. A thorny perennial hedge of fast-growing species, even with insufficient density and lack of foliage, turns into an insurmountable obstacle not only for people, but also for street animals and livestock. With a fence like this you can have peace of mind!

One of the thorniest shrubs used in landscaping, only slightly inferior to rosehip. This is a thorn or blackthorn with oval dark green foliage and round bluish-blue tart drupe fruits. A frost-resistant bush that tolerates shearing perfectly in a couple of years turns into part of a dense, uniform hedge, which can not only delimit the territory, but also perfectly strengthen the slope of a ravine or reservoir.

Fences made from bushes have no less effect:

  • , well branched when pruned, unpretentious and abundantly producing root shoots;
  • Japanese quince, suitable for creating low decorative borders.

Chokeberry and serviceberry

To create high garden fences, in addition to protection that provides owners with tasty fruits, shadberry and chokeberry are planted. These plants are capable of forming a hedge up to 3 meters high and higher.

They are winter-hardy, undemanding to growing conditions and delight the eye not only with festive white blooms, but also with clusters of edible fruits, as well as foliage that changes color by autumn.

Plants for forming a hedge - video

All plants on the site play a certain role and are selected by the gardener in accordance with the task. Fast-growing bushes for hedges are ideally suited for simultaneously hiding the garden area from prying eyes and beautifying it. To quickly green up a site, you need plants that will harmoniously fit into the general composition, will not require constant care, and will be resistant to frost and short haircuts.

To make a hedge unpretentious and decorative at the same time, you must first select photos of plants, study the descriptions of the groups, make possible combinations, and only then start planting. Gardeners prefer to purchase fast-growing varieties so that in a couple of years the green fence will acquire a presentable appearance.

Advantages of green fencing:


The plants selected are very different: coniferous, deciduous, ornamental, flowering and even fruit. Perennials that are resistant to adverse conditions are suitable, plus they must have a dense crown, uniform growth, and resistance to pests and frosty winters.

Types of fast-growing shrubs

Deciduous crops are actively growing, some varieties grow up to 1 m per year. Decorative seedlings with small foliage are suitable for a living fence. Many of them bloom for several months. The priority fast-growing shrubs for hedges are bladderwort, spirea, turf, barberry, and mock orange.

  • Bladderwort and spirea

Diabolo

Viburnum foliage is a spreading bush up to 2-4 m in height. There are also dwarf options for borders. It is valued for its decorative foliage with a jagged edge, snow-white inflorescences and small vesicular fruits, which distinguish the vesicle from other plantings. Depending on the variety, the crown may change color to golden or reddish by autumn. For better growth, it is recommended to use fertilizers; rotted manure and compost are suitable for it.

This is an ideal plant that requires minimal care. Grows in dry soil and has no special requirements. sunlight, gains 40-50 cm in a year, treats haircuts favorably. A colorful combination can be achieved by alternating the Diabolo variety with a brownish-green crown and the hard-leaved Luteus.

Spiraea is a shrub that makes a magnificent flowering hedge. Such plants are not formed into clear boundaries, but are allowed to grow freely. Attracts attention with lush snow-white blooms, which are set off by rich green foliage. Both single-row and multi-row plantings are possible. In some plants, it becomes bare as it grows. Bottom part trunk In this case, a row of low-growing flowers is planted in front of them; it would not hurt to use organic matter here too) for active growth and flowering.

  • Cotoneaster brilliant and white derain

Cotoneaster is the best example for growing a dense fence. The height can reach 2 m. The decorative value of cotoneaster is in the foliage, which by autumn changes from a rich green tint to burgundy. The fruits are small black or red peas that adorn the shoots at the end of the season. It has been growing in one place for more than half a century, tolerating drought, pruning and frost quite well. To form a dense curtain, it is recommended to remove 1/3 of the annual shoots.

White dogwood has decorative leaves with a light edge. Tall derain shrubs grow up to 2.5 m. The plant is shade-tolerant, is not afraid of dampness, and in the spring it is covered with elegant cream inflorescences. With proper care, re-blooming in the fall is possible. The white derain changes its outfits several times a season, and each time they are magnificent. Pleases at first abundant flowering, then variegated foliage and autumn crimson, and in winter reddish shoots dazzle against the background of a snow-white blanket. It will not be difficult to create balls, cubes, hemispheres and columns from the crown.

  • Tree hydrangea and mock orange

Tree hydrangea has a more restrained growth, but it is absolutely unpretentious, grows and blooms in almost any conditions. Its leaves are ovoid in shape with jagged edges. The buds form on the shoots of the current year, so it is not afraid of short haircut in autumn and spring before the sap begins to flow. The inflorescences, reaching 15-20 cm in diameter, delight with their beauty from July to frost.

Mature plants in middle lane winter without shelter.

Mock orange goes well with hydrangea. There are both tall varieties on sale, reaching 3 m (Airborne, Flight of Moths), and low-growing varieties up to 0.7 m (Moonlight). Beautifully flowering unformed hedges are composed of coronal mock orange, Caucasian and grandiflora. A strong aroma is characteristic of Lemoine and Airborne. When planting in a single row, it is recommended to place seedlings at a distance of 0.5 m. In severe winters, the shoots may freeze, but after pruning the crown quickly recovers.

Evergreen shrubs: beauty all year round

Evergreen hedges are formed from coniferous shrubs and combinations with deciduous plants.

The advantage of coniferous plantations:

  • tolerate pruning well;
  • clean the atmosphere;
  • have high sound insulation;
  • remain decorative throughout the year;
  • grow in one place for tens or even hundreds of years.

Popular types of conifers for creating a hedge:


The disadvantage of evergreen specimens is their slow growth compared to deciduous plants, but some varieties of conifers meet the necessary requirements and allow you to grow a green fence for several years.

Popular deciduous evergreen shrubs for hedges:


Thorn bushes guarding the garden territory

Thorny bushes provide the advantage of protecting the site from unexpected guests and animals.

Planting options:


Video with an idea for beginners.

Tips for newbies on growing hedges

It is important not only to know which plants are unpretentious, but which ones create problems as they grow. There are several factors to consider:

  1. The smaller the needles and foliage, the denser the bush looks.
  2. When choosing a place for a hedge, you need to determine the possible shadow from it, whether the plantings will shade undesirable places, including in the neighboring area.
  3. The optimal height of the fence for visual isolation of the site is no more than 2 m. To delimit the site into zones, a bush height of 1.5 m is sufficient.
  4. Over time, the plantings will begin to move beyond the territory allotted to them. The gardener needs to know how to restrain growth and concentrate the bulk of the bush in a certain place. The most popular technique is to limit planting trenches by burying sheets of slate to the depth of the root system.
  5. If the bush is well formed, it can be given not only a horizontal shape, but also trimmed in the form of waves, zigzags, and geometric shapes.
  6. Plantings that are too dense and do not allow the wind to pass through give by-effect: air currents pass over them, creating turbulence, which negatively affects nearby trees. For dense hedges, select bushes that do not limit the minimum ventilation of the area.

You can grow a curtain of greenery in your dacha in a few years if you know which types of plants develop most quickly and do not require special care. A beautifully designed living fence can create a unique coziness in the garden, protecting it from neighbors, noise and excess dust.

Surely many have not only heard what a hedge is, but have also long dreamed of acquiring such a miracle of nature on their site.

And this is completely logical, since it is difficult to name the disadvantages of such an eco-fence, but it has a lot of advantages.

Useful hedge tasks

So what is a fast-growing perennial hedge?

This is a special planting of certain shrubs or trees, made in the form of rows or some kind of figures, and the crowns should be dense, closed very tightly, and the height should be the same.

Such green fences are very functional and besides decorative design, perform a number of useful tasks:

  1. Considering that the plants are planted very close to each other and their crowns are woven tightly, such a hedge serves as reliable protection from prying eyes. Thus, neither neighbors nor people passing by will see what is happening on your site.
  2. With the help of a hedge you can produce zoning of your land(dacha) plot.
  3. By planting a “living fence”, you protect the plants on your site from strong winds.
  4. With such a landing in winter the snow will be distributed evenly, and prevent strong skidding.
  5. Very important factor is that in the spring the snow will melt longer, respectively, the ground will absorb more water.
  6. Hedge in the country - bird shelter, which build nests in such fences and destroy pests in the area.

Use on a summer cottage

The most commonly used bushes are:

  1. Barberry- a bush that lends itself well to pruning, grows quickly, and in addition, will give a rich harvest of aromatic berries for jam and unique pilaf. The height of the plant ranges from 30 cm to 3 meters. Barberry is unpretentious to soils, easily tolerates drought, but does not like waterlogging.
  2. Japonica- a shrub, varieties of which can reach a height of one to three meters. The plant tolerates frosty winters and drought well. When planting seedlings, maintain a distance between bushes of 0.5-1 meter. The shrub grows quite slowly, which reduces the number of haircuts, although it tolerates them well.
  3. Spirea- a rather unpretentious shrub that is not afraid of either frost or polluted air, which means that even in big city it will delight its owners with fragrant flowers from spring until autumn. Varieties of spirea differ in the color of the leaves and the shape of the bush: weeping, creeping, pyramidal, cascading, etc.
  4. Boxwood– one of the leaders among shrubs for use in landscape design. Thanks to its high survival rate and magnificent shiny greenery that remains all year round, the bush is used very actively by both designers and amateurs.

Trees are the best choice for large areas

If on your site you want to see a fence that is different time will look different every year: pay attention to deciduous trees to create a “living fence”.

When choosing a plant, you must take into account that the most suitable and least demanding varieties will be those that grow in your area. “Foreign” relatives can cost fabulous amounts of money, but whether they will take root or not is a big question.

Fast-growing deciduous trees for hedges:

  • Rowan;
  • sea ​​​​buckthorn;
  • turn;
  • birch;
  • Linden;
  • maple;
  • poplar.

Conifers - green joy all year round

For those who love permanence and evergreens, a coniferous hedge on the site will be an ideal option.

  1. The most preferred coniferous plant is thuja occidentalis– she is the least whimsical, and the weather conditions of our climate are very acceptable for her. It is very important that this plant requires minimal care: it is cut extremely rarely.
  2. Norway spruce and prickly is planted as a hedge, both free-growing and for shaping and cutting.
  3. Juniper reaches a height of up to three meters, the needles are non-thorny and bluish in color. For the plant to take root, seedlings that are five years old are needed.

Living fence made of conifers

Feature coniferous plants There is the fact that they are not fast-growing and in order to create a dense hedge from this kind of plants it will take a lot of effort and time.

In addition, after planting, the conifer must be left alone for at least two years, and after that it can be trimmed.

The video shows tips on how to make a hedge from conifers.

Correct landing is the key to success

Rules for planting hedges:

  1. To start decide on the height necessary hedge, whether there will be cascades.
  2. On a blank sheet of paper make a plan: where and what you want to see on your site. If you doubt your abilities, seek help from a specialist designer.
  3. Take care of the soil in which you will plant the plants. Take into account that this fence will last for many years, so high-quality fertilizer is necessary, and for some types of shrubs and trees, drainage from river pebbles and broken bricks is also necessary.
  4. Before planting the plant, consult a specialist, when exactly this needs to be done for faster adaptation.
  5. Timing and soil preparation. Most planting is done in spring or autumn. Although it would be more correct to prepare the soil (dig up, fertilize) in the fall, and plant the plant in the spring. This way it will have time to take root before frost and will be able to withstand the harsh winter well. After winter, the prepared trench is dug again, the seedlings are lowered to the level of the root collar and covered by a few centimeters. Next, you can fill the trench with soil, compact it, and then water it from a watering can at the root. You can also dig a ditch around the seedlings and fill it with water.
  6. Distance between plants depends on the variety: it can vary from half a meter to two or three meters. The distance between rows should be up to four meters.
  7. Young plants, especially in the first year, need constant and high-quality care: watering, introducing fertilizers and covering the ground around the seedling for the winter with dry leaves.
  8. For faster growth, On seedlings, you can cut off the top branches before planting. This does not apply to conifers!

Hedge care

Timely pruning of plants and watering - this is the main care of the “living fence”.

As for the introduction of fertilizing and fertilizers, this is done individually for each type of plant, therefore individual schedules must be drawn up.

Trimming

The first two years the hedge needs to be trimmed very often in order to form the correct shape. Please note that after cutting, the base of the plant should be wider than the top so that the sun's rays reach all the branches.

Then you will have to carry out the procedure less frequently: once - in early spring, before flowering, and a second time - in mid-June. If you are not going to pay so much attention, then mandatory, do this once a year - in mid-August.

First of all, it is necessary to remove frozen branches, “wolf” branches, on the plant. And in order to rejuvenate your hedge, you need to trim right down to the old branches. To ensure that the crown is lush and thick, treat the young shoots thoroughly.

Watering is the basics

Watering a hedge is a simple matter and must be done in the morning or evening so that the water is well absorbed by the soil and does not evaporate.

Also, watering largely depends on the soil itself: if it is clayey, frequent watering can lead to rotting of the root system, and its absence can lead to drying out.

If the soil conducts moisture too quickly, you also need to be careful about watering, or even better, lay drainage and a layer of clay in the trench when planting.

Thus, by deciding to decorate your plot with a hedge, you will get rid of many problems: noise, dust, snow drifts, nosy neighbors.

you will create reliable protection for your crops, pets, outbuildings, and choosing and caring for plants will bring you pleasure and improve your health.

In green building, hedges are called linear plantings of shrubs or trees. Plant walls and fences are not only picturesque - they protect the site from prying eyes, uninvited guests, winds, noise and dust. In addition, natural hedges can successfully camouflage outbuildings, aesthetically divide the garden area into different zones and at the same time serve as a certain backdrop for landscape compositions.

Hedges made of woody plants: how they differ

Hedges are created from low-growing trees, various types of ornamental shrubs, and, less commonly, from perennials. herbaceous plants on trellises.

Height and width

Green fences are conventionally divided by height into three groups:

  • walls – more than 3 meters high,
  • the actual hedges (low, medium, high) – from 0.5 to 3 meters,
  • curbs – up to 0.5 m.

Each of these groups has its own assortment of plants. Thus, tree crops with a vertically directed crown are suitable for living walls, while dwarf forms are used for borders.

The height of the fence, designed for visual isolation from prying eyes, must be at least 2 meters. When choosing the height of a living fence, it is necessary to foresee in advance whether the shadow that it will cast on the fenced area and, possibly, on the neighbor’s garden will cause unwanted problems. In order to delimit the internal space of the garden area, hedges no more than 1.5 meters high are planted.

The width of the living border depends on the number of rows of plants in it. Plantings can be one-, two-, three-row. Moreover, the rows can be from one type of plant or from different ones; both identical in height and differing in this parameter.

Some trees and shrubs begin to become bare underneath over time as a result of the natural death of lower branches. Taking this into account, the “legs” of such plants are immediately covered with a row of lower, stably ornamental shrubs when planting. So, a row of lilacs with a line of spireas planted in front of it will look impressive.

Form

Hedges can be trimmed (shaped) or untrimmed (free-growing).

A molded hedge has regular geometric contours (parallelepiped, trapezoid, sphere, hemisphere), which are obtained as a result of regular pruning. Clipped hedges, in addition to straight ones, can be wavy and zigzag. The top surface also does not have to be strictly horizontal. It all depends on the owner’s imagination, design idea and the skills of a garden “hairdresser”.

Most beautiful flowering shrubs are not suitable for trimmed hedges, since shaping prevents them from flowering. " Construction material The living “geometric” fence most often consists of trees and shrubs with good branching and small decorative leaves. The smaller the leaves or needles, the denser the texture of the trimmed surface, and the more impressive the living barrier looks. A small nuance is that, for all its “beauty,” the molded hedge is quite monotonous and will require playing with flower beds, contrasting companion plants or small garden forms.

For free-growing hedges, choose plants with a compact crown - decorative foliage, beautifully flowering, beautifully fruiting.

Attention! Unshaped hedges will definitely need pruning, too, but these will be stimulating, corrective, sanitary trims without giving the bushes a clear shape.

Color

Thanks to the wide range of tree and shrub crops, there are now much more color options for hedges than just using the usual Green colour. Using plants with different colors of leaves or needles, you can plant golden-yellow, silver, purple, or fences combined from different colors on your site.

Using shrubs with colorful leaves for creating hedges.

Important! Colored hedges on the site are a powerful accent. They themselves become an element of landscape design and it is much more difficult to fit them harmoniously, unlike monotonously green ones, into the overall holistic picture of the garden.

« Colored hedges on the site allow you to play with the illusion of perceiving objects. A barrier of warm-colored trees or shrubs (such as purple-leaved barberry) appears closer than it actually is. The use of cold shades (for example, thuja with bluish needles), on the contrary, visually distances it.

Visually lengthen garden path(and, therefore, increasing the size of a small garden) can be done by starting a double-sided border of varieties with dark flowers of any type of plant and ending with varieties with light colors. To create this effect, for example, paniculate hydrangea with its wide color palette is suitable.

An interesting design innovation is the creation of heterogeneous (“marble”) fences. For example, an original variegated fence can be obtained by planting in three rows mixed seedlings of two (or three) differently colored varieties of common barberry. After some time, the branches of closely planted plants penetrate each other’s crowns, and then emerge on the surface of the fence in different places. The appearance of a trimmed, intricately spotted living fence is very impressive.

"Marble" hedge.

The use of colored plants in a hedge requires a developed sense of proportion. A low fence made from the purple-leaved form of common barberry looks exclusive, but high dark purple walls made from Ottawa barberry Superba will make a gloomy, depressing impression.

A hedge on your property

When choosing shrubs for hedges, it is important to decide what main function should be performed by the living fence of the local area:

  1. To weaken the winds while maintaining ventilation of the area, a loose hedge of deciduous crops (amorpha, dogwood, hawthorn, etc.) is preferable.

Important! A screen fence should catch and partially transmit the wind, rather than reflect it completely. An impenetrable plant planting is almost no different from a stone wall or metal fence. The wind speed when passing over the top of a too dense strip (it does not penetrate through it) is reduced by half, but immediately behind the fence the air currents begin to swirl. This phenomenon has a bad effect on the well-being of nearby plants.

  1. The best screen from street dust is conifers and trees and shrubs with wrinkled and pubescent leaves (willow, rough elm, field maple, etc.)
  2. Sounds are most effectively absorbed by coniferous trees and, above all, pine and spruce.
  3. A reliable barrier from uninvited visitors - people or animals - is a thorny obstacle made of common barberry, prickly rose, large-thorned hawthorn, and European gooseberry.
  4. To create green “rooms” and secluded corners inside the garden, decorative low-growing shrubs are suitable - spirea (Japanese, Boumalda, etc.), privet, low-growing varieties of western thuja, etc.

Attention! Low-growing, so-called dwarf, varieties of both deciduous and coniferous trees grow very slowly (annual growth does not exceed 15 cm).

As a rule, the greatest aesthetic value is represented by mature, well-developed specimens, the cost of which in the nursery is much higher. Therefore, when purchasing planting material to create a border from “dwarfs” you will have to take into account its high cost.

The durability of green spaces (and living fences are a special case of them) is sharply reduced if the atmosphere in the area where they grow is polluted with dust, gases and the water-air regime of the soil is disturbed due to the hard surface.

Fast-growing shrubs for hedges

To create a perennial hedge, they try to use fast-growing shrubs so that they show their protective and decorative properties as early as possible. The favorite “building materials” for fences made of deciduous shrubs in central Russia are:

  • barberry,
  • privet,
  • cotoneaster,
  • bladdercarp viburnum,
  • chokeberry,
  • hawthorn,
  • derain,
  • bloodroot,
  • spirea,
  • golden and alpine currants,
  • forsythia.

The annual growth of shoots for many of them is up to 1 meter.

For single-row planting, 2 to 5 seedlings are planted per meter of border strip, taking into account the diameter of the crown of an adult plant.

Planting seedlings.

Already from an early “youth”, the hedge should acquire a dense foundation. Heavy pruning of the bush stimulates the appearance of side shoots. For seedlings planted in autumn and spring next year All shoots are shortened by one third of the length. When planting hedges in spring, plants are given the opportunity to grow the above-ground part during the season for the subsequent formation of good roots. Pruning is then done the following spring. The gardener's scissors will be needed 2-4 times during each season, depending on the type of plant.

Bladderwort viburnum

One of the popular types of ornamental fast-growing shrubs used in the construction of hedges is the viburnum leaf (Physocarpos opulifolius).

Bladderwort viburnum

All parts of this shrub - flowers, leaves, and fruits - are of decorative value. The bush is up to 2-3 meters high - spreading, with a dense hemispherical crown. The small leaves have serrate-toothed edges. Small flowers with red stamens, collected in white or pink umbrellas, bloom in June. Collectible bubble fruits change color from green to reddish when ripe. In garden design, the following varieties of viburnum are most often used:

  • Dart's Gold (Darts Gold) - with lemon-yellow leaves,
  • Diabolo (Diabolo) - with purple foliage,
  • Luteus (Luteus) – yellow-orange in spring, green in summer and golden in autumn,
  • Red Baron (Red Baron) - with dark red leaves.

For borders, dwarf varieties of bladderwort such as Nana (Nana) with dark green leaves and a bush height of up to 1 m are used.

Bladderwort tolerates partial shade, but varieties with golden and purple leaves prefer sunny places to maintain rich color. Does not like waterlogged soil. The undoubted advantages of this shrub include:

  • frost resistance,
  • undemanding to soil fertility,
  • good tolerance to polluted environments.

The high unpretentiousness of bladderwort allows it to be planted as undergrowth even along roads and railways.

Cotoneaster brilliant

Cotoneaster brilliant ( Cotoneaster lucidus)- one of the best deciduous shrubs for creating dense, trimmed hedges. The cotoneaster bush is erect, densely leafy, up to 2 meters high. Glossy dark green ellipsoidal leaves turn purple in autumn. Thanks to the abundance of black fruit balls on the branches, cotoneaster remains picturesque for a long time even against the dull background of late autumn.

Cotoneaster brilliant

The value of brilliant cotoneaster for landscaping is that it:

  • winter-hardy,
  • drought-resistant,
  • unpretentious,
  • shade-tolerant, although it develops better with sufficient lighting.

The gas and dust resistance of cotoneaster makes it indispensable for fencing if the site is located near a highway or in the city. Cotoneaster is not characterized by rapid growth, but it grows in one place for up to 50 years.

Caragana bush

Caragana frutex is one of the most commonly used species in creating green fences.

Caragana bush

This variety is very similar to its “sister” - caragana tree, popularly known as yellow acacia. The same abundant “golden” flowering in May, the same thin shoots with light green pinnate leaves creating an openwork crown. The height of the bush is no more than 2 meters, it grows very actively, the powerful root system is capable of strengthening the slope from crumbling soil. Caragana shrub is frost-resistant, hardy, withstands drought, loves the sun, but also tolerates partial shade.

The most popular caragana varieties in garden design are:

  • Grandiflor(Grandiflor) – large-flowered variety,
  • Latifolia (Latifolia) - large flowers and shiny leaves,
  • Globosa(Globoza) – compact spherical crown.

Shrubs for flowering hedges

Hedges made from flowering shrubs are usually not given a clear geometric shape, but are allowed to grow freely. In this case, the distance between bushes in a row should be approximately 0.8 of the diameter of an adult bush. In such a not too dense planting, the crowns of neighboring bushes will only partially overlap.

Ornamental shrubs with a long flowering period are most suitable for creating flowering frames:

  • Spiraea Vangutta,
  • varieties of Japanese spirea,
  • weigela varieties,
  • varieties of cinquefoil bush,
  • varieties of white dogwood.

Spiraea Wangutta

Spiraea Vanhouttei (Spiraea x vanhouttei) surprises with the size of the bush, lush cascading crown and luxury of snow-white flowering. The height of the bush and the diameter of the crown reach 2 meters. Flexible shoots, strewn with numerous hemispherical inflorescences, bend to the ground due to their heaviness. The serrated leaves are also beautiful - dark green on top and bluish below. Spiraea Wangutta is distinguished by its fast growth, unpretentiousness, and shade tolerance. It should be taken into account that such a picturesque border strip will require quite a lot of space.

Spiraea Wangutta

White dogwood

White dogwood (Cornus alba) – extremely ornamental shrub, very promising in green construction in central and northern Russia. The second name of this beauty is white svidina, the third is white dogwood, and among the people it is most often known as redwood. Beautiful foliage, green and white in summer, turns red-violet in autumn. The graphics of flexible reddish-brown shoots are very expressive against the background of white snow and greenery coniferous trees. It blooms profusely, in two waves - in May-June and August-September. Small white or cream flowers are collected in numerous inflorescences up to 5 cm in diameter. White fruits in late summer are adjacent to newly appearing flowers.

White dogwood

Decorative deciduous varieties of white dogwood are the best for flowering hedges:

  • Sibirica Variegata(Sibirika Variegata) - dense, compact bush, leaves decorated with white edges;
  • Spaethii (Shpeta)– the leaves are bordered along the perimeter with a wide golden-yellow stripe, young leaves have a bronze color;
  • Aurea(Aurea) - solid gold leaves.

For all their attractiveness, these varieties are resistant to frost and heat, unpretentious, but fully demonstrate their decorative properties only when good lighting. In order not to turn into an impenetrable overgrown jungle over time, a fence made of such material will require systematic correction of height and width, as well as alignment of the planting line.

Evergreen hedges

Evergreen hedges are good because they significantly enliven a boring picture winter garden and the colorless period of deep autumn. They come from coniferous and deciduous trees.

Mahonia holly

Mahonia aquifolium from the barberry family is a real gift from nature to gardeners and designers. This is a very spectacular evergreen shrub up to 1.5 meters high. Mahonia is called a lily of the valley bush for its aroma of flowers, and holly grapes for its edible blue-gray berries. Large, glossy, toothed leaves, rich green in summer, turn bronze-red in autumn. It blooms in late spring - early summer with fragrant, yellow inflorescences collected in a brush. A border of Mahonia holly leaves remains picturesque all year round.

Mahonia holly

The undeniable advantage of coniferous trees and shrubs is that they are decorative from the very beginning, durable and enrich the air with the aroma of pine needles and phytoncides. But there are no fast-growing species among them.

A respectable hedge can be planted from spruce (common, prickly, ayan). But there is one significant problem: if for some reason bald patches appear in the crown of these trees, then such holes in the fence will irreparably spoil this status living border.

Numerous varieties of junipers - Virginia, common, Cossack - have proven themselves well as a natural barrier. These are small trees or large shrubs with more active annual growth of shoots. There are columnar and pin-shaped varieties that are suitable for high walls, and there are lower spreading varieties that are good for free-growing hedges.

They do well in the climate of central Russia famous varieties hardy and winter-hardy western thuja (Thuja occidentalis):

  • Brabant (Brabant) – with a conical shape,
  • Smaragd (Smaragd) - with a cone-shaped silhouette,
  • Sunkist (Sunkist) - with golden needles.

Using color scheme modern varieties of thujas and junipers, a natural fence can be made combined - play with shades of green or include blue, yellow, and dove colors.

Miniature (“dwarf”) varieties of thujas and junipers are excellent in borders, but significantly increase the cost of such elegant frames.

If the question is about choosing the most spectacular, unpretentious, easy-to-establish and inexpensive shrubs for a hedge, then here are the six best:

  • bladdercarp viburnum,
  • white turf,
  • brilliant cotoneaster,
  • spirea,
  • shrubby cinquefoil,
  • barberry.

A hedge, protecting an area from the outside or decorating it from the inside, really lives - it breathes, grows, blooms, changes, pleases the eye, and creates a favorable microclimate in the garden for both plants and people.

Creating a green border and natural protection of the site are the main uses of dense or loose plantings of shrubs. The problem remains of what is best to make a hedge from in order to decorate the area and protect it from prying eyes, noise, wind and dust. The advantage of coniferous plants is greenery all year round, and fruit-bearing bushes produce a harvest of tasty and healthy berries.

The range of plants is largely determined by the functions that the green fences will perform. You can select shrubs of different heights and give them a certain shape by cutting them.

To create a hedge 50–80 cm high, brilliant cotoneaster, low-growing spirea, holly mahonia, and boxwood are suitable. Mock orange, lilac, and hawthorn grow quickly and tolerate pruning well. For a hedge up to 3 m high, choose common barberry, yellow acacia, western thuja and biota (flatweed).

Plants of unequal height are often used. The lower tier is created from various varieties golden currant, boxwood, rose hips. Shrubs and trees up to 3 m high are planted behind them. Tiers of plants with contrasting colors of leaves or needles look good, for example, a green border of boxwood against the background of red-leaved barberry.

Heat-loving shrubs are less common in the middle zone. Japanese quince, felt cherry and edible honeysuckle bloom and bear fruit beautifully. Their berries are edible and are used for home canning.

Fast-growing perennial shrubs: list and description

The most popular ornamental and berry plants for hedges or borders:

  1. Rosehip May and cinnamon.
  2. Hawthorn is blood red.
  3. Common honeysuckle.
  4. Small-leaved mock orange.
  5. Common barberry.
  6. Common privet.
  7. European forsythia.
  8. Golden currant.
  9. White snowberry.
  10. Common lilac.
  11. Cotoneaster brilliant.
  12. Viburnum common.
  13. Zhoster is a laxative.
  14. Weigela garden.
  15. Spiraea Vanguta.
  16. Black elderberry.
  17. Gray blackberry.
  18. Derain is white.
  19. Gooseberry.
  20. Turn.

The list above contains good currants, blackberries, and rose hips that are “familiar” to almost every summer resident.

Fruit-bearing bushes are used to create not too high hedges in areas not polluted by exhaust emissions.

  1. Barberry (Amur, common, small-leaved, Siberian, Thunberg). The shrub is resistant to weather anomalies, branches well and easily tolerates pruning, creating impenetrable thickets. Yellowish barberry flowers bloom in spring, and elongated red fruits, collected in clusters, ripen in autumn. The height of an adult shrub is about 3 m. Forms of barberry with purple leaves have been bred.
  2. European euonymus. Tall deciduous shrub with inconspicuous inflorescences. The plant is decorated with hanging fruits - pink-red boxes up to 1.5 cm in diameter.
  3. Common privet. This deciduous shrub has long been used to create fast-growing hedges 1.2 - 3 m high. In spring, clusters of white flowers appear at the ends of the shoots, emitting a strong aroma. Privet tolerates shearing easily and requires minimal care. The fruits, like those of the euonymus, are poisonous.
  4. Hawthorn (soft, blood-red, plum-leaved). In spring, the shrub is covered with small leaves and white or pink inflorescences. In autumn, edible and medicinal red fruits ripen. The hawthorn hedge grows quickly and becomes almost impenetrable. The plant is unpretentious to soil conditions, tolerates shading, and is not damaged by frost. Caring for barberry and hawthorn is complicated by the presence of sharp thorns.
  5. Elderberry (black, cluster). A medium- to tall-growing shrub that attracts attention in spring with its lush white inflorescences. In autumn, small fruits ripen on the branches, collected in large clusters. Both species grow quickly, reaching a height of 5 m.
  6. Weigela (early, garden, blooming). Moisture-loving and heat-loving shrub. The decorative appearance of the plant is given by emerald leaves on thin branches of a red hue, as well as pink or other colored bell-shaped flowers. Weigela is easily propagated by rooting green cuttings. Looks better without trimming. To create a hedge that does not require cutting, it is better to choose beautifully flowering and berry bushes.
  7. Felt cherry. Fruit and ornamental shrub for creating a wide hedge. The crown of the felt cherry is spherical, the height of the plant is 1.5 - 3 m. White flowers appear simultaneously with the blossoming of small, as if corrugated, leaves. The fruits are scarlet or dark red drupes with a sweet and sour taste.
  8. Common honeysuckle. Tall shrub (about 3 m). Honeysuckle can grow in the shade of trees and blooms for a long time. A hedge quickly takes on a decorative appearance. Blue honeysuckle berries can be eaten.
  9. Viburnum common. The tall shrub is used to create a dense, wide and tall hedge. Viburnum grows in the shade of tall trees, is durable, hardy, and does not require special attention. In spring, white inflorescences bloom on the bushes. In autumn, scarlet berries ripen with a sour-sweet-bitter taste. This remedy and raw materials for home canning.
  10. Common dogwood. Long-lived fruit shrub, undemanding to care. Sweet and sour dogwood fruits are consumed fresh, used with medicinal purposes and for home canning.
  11. Gooseberry. The shrub is suitable for creating thorny hedges of low and medium height. Gooseberries begin to bear fruit early and are durable (if they are not affected by diseases). An impenetrable fence up to 1.5 in height is created by planting bushes of the Chernomor and Smena varieties.
  12. Golden currant. A more durable and productive plant compared to black currant. In spring it blooms profusely, spreading a pleasant aroma. In summer, “beads” of ripening berries gleam against the background of smooth openwork leaves. They contain pectins, sugars, acids and vitamins. The berries are used for jam, jelly, and compote.
  13. Spiraea Vanguta. A fast-growing ornamental shrub with a rounded crown, decorated in spring with numerous white inflorescences. Spiraea is resistant to air and soil pollution and is easily propagated by cuttings. It is better not to trim it, but to use it to create a free-growing hedge.
  14. White snowberry. The plant surprises and delights with its beauty almost all year round. Snowberry, or snowberry, is a deciduous shrub up to 3 m high. In spring, small white or pinkish flowers bloom on thin flexible branches. In autumn, snow-white berries ripen (in different types and varieties, the color of the fruit is different). They are preserved and decorate the bush after snow falls. The snowflake is durable and is little affected by diseases and pests.
  15. Mock orange (common, crown). This plant is often confused with jasmine. Mock orange quickly acquires a decorative appearance; it looks especially elegant in the spring during the mass blooming of fragrant white flowers 2.5 - 6 mm in diameter. The plant is recommended for use when creating a hedge that does not require cutting.
  16. Rosehip (May and cinnamon). Beautiful flowering, fruit-bearing shrubs. False fruits rich in vitamin C, carotenoids, organic acids, are used in medicine, used in the preparation of extracts, oils, and decoctions.
  17. Thorn (thorn). A shrub with numerous side shoots covered with thorns. The thorn creates an impenetrable green wall. The plant is very tenacious, drought-resistant and durable. The fruits are black with a bluish coating after the first frost and become tastier.

Thorny bushes are more suitable for free-growing hedges, without annual pruning.

Evergreens for hedges

A green fence or wall made of coniferous plants is practical and beautiful. Such hedges remain dense and retain their decorative appearance all year round. Green borders made of boxwood, mahonia, and holly are not inferior in beauty and durability.

  1. Mahonia holly. The evergreen shrub attracts with the shine of large leathery leaves, the beauty of yellow flowers and blue berries.
  2. Boxwood is a classic of “green building”. A trimmed hedge, an elegant topiary, a green fence up to 1.5 m high - these are the possibilities for using an evergreen plant in landscape design. Boxwood is not resistant to low temperatures.
  3. Spruce (prickly, gray). The advantage of using coniferous plants is their resistance to environmental pollution. With the help of prickly spruce you can create a molded hedge or wall. Gray spruce is more suitable for free-growing hedges. Green beauties form impenetrable thickets.
  4. Junipers are coniferous shrubs for hedges. Best views to create an evergreen fence: M. vulgaris, Virginian, Cossack. Juniper virginiana can be easily given a pyramidal shape by pruning. M. cossack is more suitable for single-row green borders. The shrub requires pruning - removing branches growing to the sides. Common juniper grows slowly and eventually reaches a height of 8 m. It protects the soil and purifies the air from pathogens, and is a valuable medicinal plant.
  5. Thuja occidentalis. The coniferous plant is unpretentious and looks beautiful all year round. Thuja occidentalis is resistant to gas pollution, pests and diseases. Decorative forms with a conical and narrow-columnar crown and golden-colored needles have been developed.
  6. Eastern biota. It has a similar shape of crown and leaves to thuja. Biota is resistant to lack of moisture. Variegatedly colored, pyramidal varieties have been developed that require good lighting, but do not tolerate direct sunlight and drying out of the soil.

Hedge: planting in open ground

You can arrange the bushes in one or two rows, trim them annually, or leave them to grow freely. Caring for molded green fences (clipped) is considered more labor-intensive, time-consuming and costly.

In a dense border, there are 4 - 5 plants up to 60 cm high per 1 m. To create a green fence 1 - 1.2 m, plant 3 - 4 bushes per 1 m. If the expected height of the hedge is more than 1.2 m, then careful selection will be required assortment of plants and placement of 2 - 3 seedlings on an area of ​​1 m.

Planting a hedge:

  1. First, mark the area and pull the cord.
  2. A week before planting, dig a trench at a distance of 1 - 1.5 from the border, 50 - 100 cm wide and deep (depending on the size of the earthen ball around the roots).
  3. Pour drainage onto the bottom, then manure or humus, 1 - 2 cups of nitroammophoska per bush, garden soil (the total height of these layers is at least 20 cm).
  4. Place the seedlings in a row or in a checkerboard pattern so that the root collar is at the level of the edge of the trench or slightly lower.
  5. Straighten the roots, sprinkle with soil, and lightly compact the soil.
  6. Water the earthen ball around the roots so that the water is absorbed.
  7. Add soil to the top edge of the trench.
  8. Compact and water the soil again.
  9. Sprinkle mulch on top.

Planting in one row saves time and effort. Such a hedge takes on a decorative appearance within 3 years. A two- and three-row fence looks elegant already in the first year. With this method of creating a hedge, it is recommended to place seedlings in a checkerboard pattern.

You can plant creeping shrubs in the foreground, create a second tier from medium-sized bushes, and a third from small trees.

The following season, pruning is carried out to increase the density of the branches. With the help of a haircut, the hedges are given the desired shape. After reaching the desired height, sanitary and anti-aging pruning of the bushes is used.

It is necessary to regularly remove weeds, water hedges, loosen the soil in tree trunk circle. Fertilizing in spring and summer is combined with watering. The crown is periodically irrigated to wash away dust. In snowy winter, some types of conifers require branches to be tied to prevent breaking.

Ideas for using hedges in landscape design

There are several popular options using a bush fence. A fast-growing perennial evergreen hedge will, if necessary, cover unsightly buildings, divide the site into zones, and add privacy to a relaxation corner in the garden. Paths and flower beds are decorated with borders made of boxwood or coniferous plants.

Hedges and walls - modern elements in landscape design. They serve as decoration for a cottage, garden or park, shield the area from prying eyes, and reduce the level of gas pollution and noise. It is important to correctly select the assortment of species and varieties to create a hedge, and to do everything correctly when planting and pruning (haircutting). Plants must be resistant to pathogens, low temperatures and winds in order to please the owner with their appearance for many years.