Hedge or Hedgerow: Garden for Nature's Best!

Your green screen can be a wildlife wonder.

Hedgerow in the Making

Yes, a row of cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) or yew (Taxus baccata) native to southern Europe creates a screen to block a view you prefer not to have, like a busy street corner. These plants are widely available, known to landscape contractors and easy to grow. But why not do something more creative that is also easy to grow, will look better and provide tons more wildlife habitat? Planting your own personal hedgerow gives you a mix of flowers, berries and fall foliage far surpassing any row of identical plants in beauty, garden interest and ecological value. Your hedge will literally come alive!

Why talk about this now? First, fall is the perfect time to plant, hands down. Shrubs and trees can root in during cooler days and before the really cold weather arrives getting the plants off to the best start possible.

Second, tonight, Wild Ones is hosting a free webinar at 7pm ET about creating a hedgerow! You can register here. "The Beauty and Benefits of Hedgerows," will be taught by Heather McCargo, founder of Wild Seed Project and will include tips for designing and planting hedgerows.

The webinar is geared toward a national audience so while I am sure we will hear about shrubs and trees native to our area, here are some of our easier to grow natives widely available in our nurseries. These would combine for an awesome hedgerow in the Chesapeake.

Northern White Cedar and Serviceberry

Evergreens

Since evergreens are necessary to get a year round screen, let's start there. Depending on what you are screening out and the space you have, you may want a mix of evergreen trees and shrubs or, perhaps, several evergreen shrubs will be enough.

Eastern Red Cedar in Fall

Eastern Red Cedars

Eastern red cedar (Juniperis virginiana) is an iconic native evergreen growing to heights of 30 to 60 feet. Eastern red cedar grows easily in clay, dry and wet soils (though it can't grow in consistently wet soils.) The Missouri Botanical Garden says it has the best drought resistance of any conifer native to the eastern U.S. They thrive in full sun and grow in part sun too. In the garden, eastern red cedar adds something for every season. The trees are hubs for song bird activity on cold winter days and hot summer days alike. The blue berries on female trees are irresistible to cedar waxwings, dark eyed juncos and robins.

Inkberry in Winter

Inkberry

There is one very versatile evergreen shrub that will help ensure your hedgerow blocks a view year round. It's inkberry (Ilex glabra). Inkberry grows in sun or part shade in medium to moist soils and is a rounded evergreen shrub with leaves similar in shape and color to boxwood. Inkberry is less dense than boxwood. They are green year round and female shrubs have tiny white flowers in spring that form dark berries. Inkberries can reach 6 to 8 feet in height.

Other evergreens to consider include American holly (Ilex opaca), bayberry (Morella pensylvanica), northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) and wax myrtle (Morella cerifera).

Deciduous Shrubs of the Chesapeake

Deciduous Shrubs

Planting deciduous shrubs will really make your hedgerow come alive with color, spring summer and fall. There are so many choices around the Chesapeake!

Chokeberry in Spring

Chokeberry

Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) for spring flowers, summer berries and fall color. This easy to grow shrub also does well in full sun to part shade in a range of soils. Along with the berries, red chokeberry does have pretty stunning fall color as well as a nice bloom of white flowers in late spring. This grows tall, to about 8 feet or so, and about 4 feet wide.

Fothergilla in Spring

Fothergilla

Fothergilla (Fothergilla major) is a hedge that adds unique leaf shapes, a different tone of green and phenomenal flowers that say spring is here with an exclamation point. In fall, oranges and reds light up the landscape again.

Spicebush in Summer

Spicebush

Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is a larger understory shrub and features chartreuse yellow clusters on bare branches in early spring. If you have ever happened upon a mass of these in the dappled shade of woods, it can be magical. Blooms are followed by light green leaves and yellow fall color. In the wild it grows to 12 feet high and wide but stays smaller in a garden setting, typically growing 6 to 8 feet tall and wide. It will do well in shade and sun and likes moist soils but can tolerate average soils.  It reportedly gets more blooms the more sun it gets. It grows best in medium to moist soil to 6 to 8 feet in height.

Red Twig Dogwood in Winter

Red twig dogwoods

Red twig dogwoods (Cornus sericea) shine in fall afer their leaves drop. Bright red stems become visible and last throughout winter. For best color, plant the shrub in full sun and cut back stems to 7" or so every couple of years to encourage new stems to grow, The younger stems have the brightest color.

Oakleaf Hydrangea in Summer

Oak leaf hydrangea

Oak leaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) will add significant texture to your hedgerow. This 5 to 8 foot high and wide hydrangea is fascinating in spring as the leaves unfurl in a sort of a prehistoric fashion.  The shrub then quickly leafs up and blooms with long white panicled flowers in May and June. These eventually fade to pink and brown. Leaves turn into an incredible array of maroons, reds and greens in fall. In winter, the papery bark and architectural form of the oak leaf provide great winter interest.  This shrub takes shade, partial sun and full sun though partial sun seems better.

Summersweet in Summer

Summersweet

Summersweet (Clethera alnifolia), a 3 to 6 foot high and wide deciduous shrub is a mid-summer gem. It blooms with white or pink candle like flowers that last for weeks and attract pollinators galore. The shrub turns a yellowy, green gold in fall.  It naturally grows in moister areas but tolerates regular and clay soils easily. It grows and blooms in sun or partial shade but will bloom more the more sun it gets.  

Smooth Witherod in Late Summer

Smooth Witherod

Smooth witherod (Viburnum nudum), is one of the native viburnum and great for white spring flowers, summer berries and intense fall color. The straight species of this shrub is large, growing to 12'. There is a commonly available smaller cultivar viburnum nudum 'winterthur' that grows to 6'.

Winterberry in Winter

Winterberries

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a 3 to 6 foot high and wide deciduous shrub that quietly grows small white flowers in early summer, small dark green leaves through summer and sparkles in fall as bright red berries appear. These will last as long as the birds allow, usually until after the shrub drops its leaves providing for fantastic winter interest. These also grow naturally in moist soils but do fine in regular soil and clay soils.  Again, once established, there is very little care needed.

One note — shrubs are identified as female or male. The females have the berries and you need one male within about 50′ of every three or four females to get berries. The male plants are smaller.

Winterberry grows and blooms in sun or partial shade but will bloom and have more berries the more sun it gets.

Deciduous Trees

Small trees add vertical interest and a different shape which will enhance the overall effect of your hedgerow. Lots of choices but these two standout for adding texture and color.

Redbud in Spring

Redbud

Redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) add unique heart shaped leaves in summer and fall and spectacular spring color.

Serviceberry in Spring

Serviceberry

Serviceberry trees (Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' ) add white flowers in spring, red berries in summer and great orange fall color. Please note, if you plant eastern red cedars in your hedgerow, you may want to skip serviceberries as the cedars tend to cause the service berries to get an orange rust which while harmless, can cover the berries.

The possible combinations of natives to create a hedgerow are vast. Mix and match. Choose the plants that speak to you and you will not only do something to make your garden so much more interesting, you will create a vital habitat!

Happy gardening.