Evergreen hedge opinions

17 years ago

I know everyone posts questions about evergreen hedges.... here is another one. I am so confused....

I am starting to plant along a fence line in order to screen out an undesirable neighbor.

Exposure is dappled sun part shade. Soil, not great, high clay content although I do amend when I plant. Tends towards alkaline.

I currently have two "eastern red cedar" or juniperus virginiana, which are doing very well. Can I make a hedge / screen out of those? How tall and wide can I expect these to be at the 5 year point? I was planning on getting more transplants to fill in, IF these can be planted to make a hedge. Also what is the recommended spacing of these for a hedge if this is even possible.

OR:

I could go with the arborvitae thuja occidentalis wintergreen variety, but I am afraid these would be browsed by deer too much. As we have deer around here, although I have not had too much of a problem with them yet. I like the arborvitae because it would seem to provide more of a thicker dense screen.

How far apart would you plant these for a hedge?

OR:

I am also considering blue point juniper which is a narrow taller form, which I have one already and like it. Although it is kind of slow growing.

OR:

I have some yews hicksii (narrow form ones) already planted in my yard, and some do well and some have died off because I have areas in specific spots where there is poor drainage.

Would it look weird to combine all these evergreens in the hedgerow? I am afraid of having just one type of plant because the fence line is so long - 200+ feet and I am afraid that if a blight comes through it would wipe out everything.

Has anyone done "combination" privacy hedges? Or is this weird?

Opinions please! Thanks.

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Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
17 years ago
i don't understand your need to choose ONE ...

i am a collector [first step in recovery....lol] .... i vote for some of all ... diversity rules ....

if some plague of bugs/disease come to attack the one choice you made... you will have trouble .... by diversifying... you avoid such ...

check out the pix at the conifer society .... look not at the individual plants.. but the use of a color palette ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: american conifer society ...
klimkm
Original Author
17 years ago
OK, thanks for the site. It may help me visualize as I am having problems doing that. It is a quite narrow area so as you notice the choices I made are all narrow plants.
I do like the different shades of evergreens, and I already have more than a few junipers and birds nest spruce that are doing well for years now, so I know those will do well in my yard. also three firs. Pines not so good... I do have a mugo pine very small bush though.
I did see one photo with some ornamental grass in there, perhaps I can integrate that into my screen too! Thanks for the suggestions.
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go to the link ... ignore all the military stuff .... corpse of engineers ..... find the box .. and hit the link to your county soil/water conservation district.. call them ... and ask if they have sponsored plant sales in spring ... or if they know of other state forestry programs ... in MI ... they offer arbs.. at one foot tall.. for something like 25 for $16 .... and they also offer a plethora of other appropriate plants ... as noted .. diversify.. or one day down the road.. the 9th plague of the bible might wipe out your whole project ... so i recommend at least 3 different plants.. i might also suggest.. that you avoid a straight line at planting .... your other resource would be musser forest.. google that.. and look into their windbreak section ... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link
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I like the blueberries. I think I'll put them on the other property line. Doesn't entirely solve my current issue, but it still helps. They're typically 3-4 feet, and tolerate a higher Ph than other blueberries. I would still like to do a raised bed for them. I could have 4-6 feet with a raised bed. I rarely drink tea, to be honest. I think you may be correct about the Viburnums. Some seem like they are tasty, but from my little bit of digging, most of those don't appear to be evergreen, however, they do work in my zone. There is V. Pragense, but I am unable to find a definitive answer if they are human edible. Some said it was, most said it was not. And even the ones that said it was edible said it was not...that tasty. Some people claimed that not even birds or deer would eat some of the Viburnum berries. It seems the further away you get from "normal" plants, the harder it is to find solid answers. I like Unedo. I think I will make a place somewhere, probably near the hedge, but not a row of them, if that makes sense. I have looked at Elaeagnus Ebbingei quite a bit. It has it's own set of issues, though. It's invasive in some states. Although, I did not see it as being invasive in mine. Additionally, it doesn't appear to fruit reliably. There is also a fairly large seed inside of it. Fortunately, it's supposed to edible as well, from my understanding. I wonder if I could plant something like Ebbingei since it will still fruit and is evergreen, and then maybe plant something like huckleberry (vaccinium ovatum, similar to a blueberry?) supposed to evergreen, but quite small, or maybe sea buckthorn (not evergreen) in front of it. Sea and Huckle are supposed to be smaller than Ebbingei, so it would not shade, and both could get sun. I'm not sure if that would work or not.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
17 years ago
I think 'screening' is the operative word here, as 'hedging' implies a more formal approach that typically involves routine pruning to keep in size. And screening - allowing the plants to assume a natural size and shape without significant pruning - lends itself very nicely to a mixture of plants, more so than hedging does. A selection of several species suitable to your location and the specific site would work well. Traditional hedgerows usually include deciduous material as well that offer fodder and protection for wildlife, but often require a depth of planting area more than just a single species hedge involves. But they offer the advantage of foliar color, flowers and fruits and berries and will provide privacy screening during the growing season as well - a time when more screening ability is usually desired. I say mix it up!
klimkm
Original Author
17 years ago
I never thought about putting some deciduous plants in there. I do like the look of the red twig dogwoods against some evergreens in the winter though. Maybe I should get a couple of those.

Right now I do have viburnums which do well here. And the birds love those. The berries on the arrowwood viburnums make for a two-day very noisy little bird party when those ripen.

I just want evergreens along the fence so my neighbor can't see us as well. Right now we have almost nothing there, two hicksii yews, that is it.

I will try all the evergreens above in the screen I think.

Evergreen hedge opinions

Comments (4)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

klimkm
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Evergreen hedge opinions

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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