It is difficult to overestimate the advantages of the green line. Planted on the border of the plot, it will provide us with privacy, muffle noise from the street, stop dust and reduce the strength of the wind. It will make the garden a pleasant, quiet place. Most hedges also have one downside. They need to be trimmed regularly. Unformed hedges, which are cut occasionally, do not pose such problems. It also has its advantages - it reaches the desired height faster and blooms and bears fruit every year.
Preparation of the surface
If we want the hedge to grow quickly and evenly, we need to carefully prepare the soil for planting.The soil should be dug, removing stones and plant roots. If it is very compact, e.g. it has not been cultivated for several years, it is best to do it two spades deep. When digging, we carefully remove all weeds. It is also worth improving the soil properties immediately. Clay clay - although rich in nutrients - inhibits plant growth. Roots find it difficult to break through and they have nothing to breathe. Too light does not retain water, therefore the sandy substrate should be mixed with organic fertilizer: compost, manure, deacidified peat, in a ratio of 2: 1. Since sandy soils are easily acidic, it is worth liming them every few years. The clay soil needs a mixture of sand (3: 1). In general, our gardens have mixed soils: sandy loam or loam and sandy. By adding organic fertilizers, we increase their fertility. Humus gives cohesiveness to light soils, and bulk to heavy soils. Depending on the type of shrubs, we must also pay attention to the pH of the soil.Rhododendrons and azaleas, less acidic garden hydrangeas and coniferous plants require a definitely acidic substrate.
Choose the planting date
If we have decided to grow shrubs in containers, it doesn't really matter when we plant them. The correct planting date is important for plants with an exposed root system. We plant trees and shrubs which drop their leaves for winter in late September and in October or early spring, before buds begin to develop. Remember that it is better to plant plants in autumn on light soils, and in spring on heavy and moist soils. Coniferous and deciduous evergreen shrubs are susceptible to overdrying. When buying them, choose only those that have a large lump of earth - it protects the roots against water loss. These plants are also planted in fall or early spring.
Planting
The distances between shrubs and the method of planting them depend on how quickly the chosen species grows, what degree of hedge closure we want to achieve and the type of soil in the garden.In one row, hedges are planted with unformed deciduous or high density (eg hornbeams and beeches) and coniferous species - they belong to photophilous plants and if planted "in three" or "five" ones, they would be shaded. The same method of planting emphasizes the qualities of all columnar varieties, regardless of whether they are deciduous or coniferous. The "three" are planting hedges that we intend to cut intensively, and all those that are to create a tight barrier. Planting "high five" requires only wide borders, such as boxwood and lavender. In the case of taller hedges, this method of planting does not work, as after some time the plants inside die.
Plants with bare roots should be planted in a shady place in the garden until planting. Shrubs protected in this way in the fall may even survive the entire winter, but it is better not to leave them in this state for too long, because they will start to take root. A few hours before planting, it is worth soaking the roots so that the plant takes up as much water as possible, which will facilitate its adoption in a new place.Immediately before planting, shorten the roots to a length of approx. 25 cm - they will not curl in the ground and the bushes will suffer less disease after planting. Bushes sold with a root ball must be planted as soon as possible. The soil on the roots quickly dries up, begins to crumble and fall off. To prevent this from happening, dig a shallow hole in the garden, place the plants in it and moisten the root balls with water from time to time. So secured, they should withstand even several days. Plants grown in containers can be planted even a few weeks after purchase, provided that we water them regularly during this time. Before planting, it is worth watering them more than usual - then it is easier to remove them from the pot without damaging the roots.
To make planting easier, stretch the string in the place where you want to put a hedge - this will make the row even. If we want to place the bushes at small intervals, instead of single holes it is more convenient to dig a groove or two along the rope - depending on whether you plant the hedge in one row or "in three".The grooves must be wide and deep enough to allow the plant roots to be easily arranged in them. Spacing between bushes should be equal.
Just after planting
We carefully tread the soil that we showered the roots with. Make sure that the plants do not tilt, otherwise the line will be uneven. Now it is necessary to water the bushes abundantly. The soil will settle, filling any voids left around the roots, preventing them from drying out and allowing the plants to take in more easily. It is a good idea to make a depression around each shrub where water will collect during watering. This will prevent it from spilling out to the sides.
Each hedge should be trimmed immediately after planting, regardless of whether it is to be shaped or not. It is enough to level coniferous bushes (cut to the height of the lowest one). The shoots of deciduous shrubs must be shortened to a height of about 15 cm. Such a low cut may seem too radical, but if we neglect it, the plants will not branch well and in the future we will not get a dense wall of greenery.In the case of plants planted with bare root, this procedure is even more important as the strongly reduced root ball is not able to collect enough water from the substrate, and a shrub with many branches and leaves will lose a lot of water in the transpiration process.
Cutting should not be performed if the hedge is set up later than in August. Otherwise, it will stimulate the plants to produce young growths that will not have time to woody before winter and will freeze. Better to wait until spring with this treatment.
The ground under the hedge should be covered with bark, de-acidified peat or sawdust. This will facilitate the care of the plants and prevent weeds from growing. The litter layer should be quite thick (at least 8 cm), because only then will it fulfill its function. Under no circumstances should we sow grass between bushes. It is an expansive plant and will compete with a hedge for water and nutrients.
Watering
In the first year, young hedges, especially those planted with bare roots, are very sensitive to water shortage. If we planted them in the fall, the rains and the oncoming cold weather usually keep the soil constant humidity. Watering is therefore necessary only when the weather is not good and the substrate is dry. The same is true in early spring. However, starting from the end of April, we should systematically irrigate the plants, even every 2-3 days in hot weather. It is important to do this abundantly as short-term sprinkling prevents water from reaching the deeper layers of the substrate. For this reason, young plants, instead of taking root deeply, develop a shallow root system that is more sensitive to drought. In the following years, we should not neglect watering, although we can do it a bit less frequently, e.g. once a week.
Fertilization
Under no circumstances should we feed the plants during and immediately after planting. The high concentration of mineral s alts in the substrate adversely affects the development of the roots and the plants are not well absorbed.In short, instead of proliferating in search of nutrients, they use the ones closest to them. Therefore, the hedge should receive the first dose of fertilizer only two months after planting. Remember that plants must not be fed later than at the beginning of August. The abundance of fertilizer causes them to "forget" about winter and put forth a lot of new growths that will not have time to lignified before the frost sets in and will wither. For this reason, we do not feed hedges set up in the fall until spring, when they sprout their first leaves. In the first year after planting, plants should receive only half of the recommended dose of fertilizer. In the following years, we supply them normally. It is very important to carry out fertilization systematically, because the bushes grow in high density and quickly use all the available nutrients. In addition, systematically cut bushes need a constant supply of nutrients to rebuild the shoots. So if you forget to work in the garden, it is better to use a long-lasting preparation.Then one power supply carried out in early spring is enough.
Cutting
We have already mentioned the first pruning of deciduous shrubs after planting. The next ones, if necessary, are performed at the end of July, shortening the young growths to a height of 15 cm. In subsequent years, the hedge is trimmed as needed, usually every 4-6 weeks, each time shortening the young shoots by half, and when the bushes reach the planned height, trim them, leaving only 2-3 cm of the last growth. We make the first pruning before the beginning of vegetation, in early spring. The exception are plants whose young growths may be damaged by spring frosts - privet, physalis, laurel plant - these are not cut until the end of April. The last haircut should be done no later than the beginning of August. We do not prune the conifers for the first 3-4 years. Then we just straighten the sides of the hedge. Only when the bushes reach the height close to the planned one, we start regular pruning, but no more than twice a year: in spring and mid-summer.At the same time, we try not to disturb the thicker branches, because, apart from the yew and the Canadian pine tree, conifers do not tolerate it well.
Each haircut starts with cutting the sides of the hedge - the shoots should be trimmed the stronger, the narrower it is to remain. Always guide the shear blade parallel to the hedge. Only at the end do we trim the top. Cut hedges are shaped like a cuboid, arch or trapezoid with a large base. The latter shape is the most advantageous, as it guarantees the same amount of sunlight to the hedge shoots.
ŻContrary to appearances, unformed hedges should also be trimmed once every 3-4 years in order to be exposed to light.This applies mainly to shrubs blooming in spring . Then we remove unnecessary shoots that grow "inside" and make too little light reaches the interior of the bush. The so-called sanitary cuts, i.e. remove broken, stripped bark and diseased shoots. Shrubs that are covered with flowers in summer and early autumn (roses, prusznik, bush hydrangea, Japanese tavulas, budleja) should be cut out of the oldest shoots and the rest shortened.The annual pruning results in the appearance of long shoots in spring with lots of flowers that develop in the summer and fall of the same year. Similarly, we cut shrubs with ornamental shoots, such as white dogwood. Trim early spring flowering species (forsythia, almonds, veins, quince, white-flowered tavulas, shrubs) in the same way, but only after flowering. These shrubs make flower buds on the shoots that appear in the summer, i.e. after the flowering of the plant. These buds develop next spring.
