The very phrase "hedge" has become familiar.

The very phrase "hedge" has become familiar. Such a design element is widely used in various garden and park objects and in personal plots. But initially, the purpose of the hedge was purely prosaic - it served as a fence. Consider how you yourself can create such a living fence on your site.

For the hedge, which is designed to reliably protect the borders of the site from encroachments from the outside, an important quality is its “pricklyness”. Therefore, prickly plants are used for these purposes. Of coniferous trees - mainly ordinary spruce (the one that is called Smereka in the Carpathians), of deciduous shrubs - barberry common and wild rose, from deciduous trees - common and spur hawthorn, white acacia, gledichia three-thorned. Such hedges reliably serve at any time of the year, and the spruce is also beautiful in winter. Fences from all of these breeds (except for dogrose) can be sheared, formed in various forms, at the same time decorating the site.

How can you grow the right planting material yourself? There are many subtleties, and it takes a lot of time. If you want to try - here are some tips.

Spruce grows slowly, so it is better to look for small Christmas trees in the forest, dig them out with a lump of earth and transplant them temporarily for growing. When they reach 25 - 30 cm, you can transplant them to a permanent place.

You can get barberry, rosehip, and hawthorn seedlings if you collect their fruits in the fall, around October, and rub it well with sand (it is convenient to grind in a bucket with a wooden pestle - here it is important to crush the flesh without damaging the seeds), and sow the resulting mash in small portions of “sausages” onto a prepared bed to a depth of 1 - 2 cm, sprinkling with earth on top. It is necessary to sow necessarily in the fall - during spring sowing, seedlings will appear only in the next spring. Seedlings are usually grown for 2 years, and then planted in a permanent place.

Acacia and gledichia seedlings can be obtained as follows. In the fall, from October - November, the fruits of these trees are harvested, husked (like beans). In spring, usually in early May, beds are prepared. Before sowing, seeds must be poured several times alternately with boiling water, and then with cold water. You can lower the gauze bag with seeds in boiling water for a minute, then for several minutes in cold water, and repeat this several times. From this treatment, small cracks will appear in their skin, water can get to the embryo. Seedlings of these breeds are usually ready in a year for planting in a permanent place.

It is better to prepare the soil for planting seedlings ahead of time, in the fall, and in the spring before planting, dig on the bayonet floor or loosen it. It is useful during autumn digging to introduce decomposed manure or well-rotted compost into the soil.

Be sure to sit on a stretched cord (under the cord), not trusting the eye - otherwise the hedge as a result may grow by no means an even wall.

In most cases, they plant in two rows, placing the plants in them in a checkerboard pattern. Distances between rows and between plants in a row of 30 - 50 cm (for spruce up to 70 cm) - the higher the fence is supposed to grow, the greater the distance between the seats. When planting, the ground is carefully trampled around the roots, and the soil is watered (about a bucket of 2-4 plants). You can plant in the spring (before budding), and in autumn (with the beginning of leaf fall). In places where planted plants died, new plants of the same species must be planted so that there are no glades.

Starting from the second year after planting, they begin to form a fence. If they are not going to cut it, it is enough to remove part of the apical buds on those shoots that have reached the desired length - this will make the crown thicker.

Such a fence of barberry and rosehip is usually not higher than 150 - 180 cm, of other species - up to 3 meters or more. High hedges have a drawback - over time, their bottom is exposed. Therefore, they provide for landing on one side of a low hedge, which will cover the bare sections. If you want to give a certain shape to the fence, you need to cut it at least 3-4 times a season: always before leafing, and then at regular intervals until July - August.