Nature’s Alternatives to Fences and Sound Barriers

by Janice F. Booth

Jan. 21, 2023midnight

Here’s an idea for a spring project in your garden: Replace those worn-out fence posts or that chainlike eyesore with a lush hedge of forsythia or yew. Perhaps you live in a community where the covenants prohibit fences; but I bet they don’t prohibit shrubs! And as hedges, what can those shrubs be trained to do? They can gracefully delineate the borders of your flower beds and the boundaries of your property. Carefully pruned, hedges can deter intruders, muffle noise, deflect prying eyes, and protect your garden and patio from prevailing winds. Now that’s a pretty impressive list of uses for a hedge!

Whether you’re a do-it-yourself gardener or you have a clever, reliable gardener or service, you’ll want to plan your Hedges Project keeping in mind some key factors. So, here they are: 

Will your hedge be primarily decorative or purposeful? If decorative, then focus on color, fragrance, shape.

Color: You can choose shrubs that bloom, like the spring-gold of forsythia, or evergreens with variegated leaves, like the chartreuse-edged euonymus.

Fragrance: The sharp scent of boxwood deters bugs, planted beneath windows in colonial times to keep away flies and mosquitoes. However, witch-hazel provides a less pungent, woody scent to waft across your deck.

Shape: If your plan requires strongly delineated barriers, you’ll want to plant shrubs that take well to being pruned. Boxwood and privet are both old favorites for that very reason. You might even try your hand at a topiary shrub—perhaps an elegantly spiraling evergreen or a bunny or lab puppy. Flowering quince or azalea hedges will be looser, leggier, and lacy. 

If you are adding a purposeful hedge for some specific use in your garden, that use may determine the type of shrubs you plant.

Flowerbed borders: If you want a simple, attractive edge for your flowerbeds, you may want to rely on pretty evergreen shrubs that will provide an attractive border for the beds even in the winter. Juniper is deer resistant, has attractive structure and berries. A fun alternative is the Tater Tot Arborvitae, small mounds of lacy green. They require little pruning to retain their shape.

Boundary borders: If you’re going to rely on the hedges to denote your property line, size and sturdiness will be important factors. Boxwood works well here too. It can be pruned to provide a substantial hedge, not easily broached. Yew is another option that provides a looser, less obvious border. A third option is a hedge of holly. Holly has the added feature of prickliness, which can deter hungry animals and curious kids from breaching the property boundaries. 

Noise abatement: To muffle the sounds from a busy street or a neighbor’s boisterous children, you’ll want to encourage a hedge that is thick. Success here depends more on the pruning of your hedge than on the type of shrubs used. The hedge should be pruned so sunlight can reach the interior of the hedge. (More on this in the maintenance hints that follow.) 

Privacy: The same characteristics that muffle noise will also protect your garden from prying eyes. You’ll want to encourage thick growth all the way through the hedge. Additionally, consider the height and width of the mature hedge. You’ll probably want a tall, perhaps 6’ hedge. The width may vary, but I’d recommend encouraging the growth at least 2’ deep. Almost any shrub can mature into a privacy hedge. Juniper is a lovely choice, or arborvitae grows quickly and remains lush looking all year. 

Wind Break: If your garden is troubled by wind, a decorative hedge can help protect your more fragile plants. Here too, height is an important element. The Japanese holly is an interesting choice as is the stunning mountain laurel, with blossoms in the spring and green leaves all year.

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Here are some general guidelines and hints for keeping those hedges growing happily and looking good, whether you’re doing the gardening or advising your gardener. 

Spacing new plants: If you’re starting from scratch, a trench is the most foolproof way to start an attractive hedge. The planting trench should be about 12” wider than the root balls of the shrubs, and about the same depth as their root balls. Plant shrubs about 36” apart. 

Soil: Well composted, loose soil will be most welcoming to your new shrubs. 

Watering: As with most new plants, be generous in your watering for the first year. The trench will help maintain moist soil conditions for the new root system’s development. Mature hedges are usually drought resistant. 

Trimming: Begin pruning soon after the shrubs begin to grow. Try to keep in mind the end-result, the way you want the hedge to look when mature. Trim the new growth that doesn’t conform to the ultimate shape of the mature hedge. 

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Be sure to keep your hedge clippers sharp and clean. You don’t want to introduce any bacteria among these young plants—or the mature ones for that matter. Lay a tarp or old sheet beneath the shrubs before you begin pruning. Then, whisk away the small cuttings for a tidy, finished look

Shaping: Most hedges grow 1’ to 2’ per year. The upper portion of the hedge should be slightly narrower than the lower portion. Think of a cone rather than a funnel. This will allow sunlight and moisture to reach the inner branches of the hedge, keeping the appearance lush and thick. 

If the outside of the hedge is too thick, cut back random branches deep in the hedge, encouraging the inner branches to spread and grow toward the light. The “3-year Rule”: To keep your hedge healthy, each year rejuvenate the growth by removing 1/3 of the thickest stems toward the base of each plant. In 3 years, your hedge will be all young and healthy new growth. 

Finally, as with all our gardening adventures, don’t be too wedded to one vision for your new hedges. I find my plants sometimes have their own ideas as to how they should grow and look. Embrace that. Watch your hedges as they mature and encourage them in what they do best. If there’s a break in your hedge where you didn’t want one, plant an interesting vine or flower to fill in the space and add interest to your hedge. Then, next fall, you can add a new shrub and let it fill in hole in the mature hedge. 

by Janice F. Booth

Extending our Gardens’ Blooms All Season Long

by Janice F. Booth

Dec. 27, 2022

There’s nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) A wise adage, but for those of us who love gardens, it sometimes feels like everything in the garden is new and amazing, season after season. With the world fading to winter’s grays and white around us, perhaps it would be fun to consider new plans for the garden. Color changes? Expanding three-seasons of blooms? If you’ve had a monochromatic color scheme, now might be the time for colors more varied. And, looking back at your garden journal, this may be the time to think about adding flowers to keep your garden gloriously blooming from early spring until the first frost.  

To ease your research and help advance your plans, let me offer some of the oft’ referenced but rarely applied lists of blooms you can plant to create a colorful garden that will bloom from May through October. (With a nod to my dependable, 1954 Better Homes and Gardens and 1995 edition of Gardening Made Easy.) I’ll focus on perennials (plants that survive the winter and bloom year after year.) For extra pizzazz and color, you can easily add annuals (plants that will last only one season.) 

Bulbs 

Flowers blooming spring into summer from bulbs are always welcome and familiar after winter’s cold months, grouped here by most-common color for easy planning. (Many plants may be available in a variety of bloom colors.)

Grape-hyacinth— purple (tiny)

Scilla— blue (mid-height)

Hyacinth— blue, lavender (mid-height)

Allium— blue (tall), white, yellow, pink, purple

Tulip— red or myriad colors (mid-height)

Red bell— red, orange (mid-height)

Crocus— yellow, lavender, purple, white (short)

Daffodil— yellow (mid-height)

Snowdrop— white (tiny)

Mariposa lily— white, yellow (mid-height)

gladiolus— multicolor, white, yellow, pink, rose, lavender (tall)

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Perennials

We all have old favorites, plants that have kept our gardens blooming spring into summer and year after year. So, I’ll try to point out some less-familiar beauties you may want to try. I’ll organize these perennials by most-familiar or popular color.

Pansy— yellow or purple are most prevalent. While they’re sold as an annual, pansies are hardy, little guys, and will survive all but the harshest winters, turning up their pretty faces with the crocuses and hyacinth. 

Mustard— yellow blooms until mid-summer. They add a light, airiness with their tiny blossoms on taller stems. 

Welsh poppy— yellow or orange blossoms with lacy fern-shaped foliage. (mid-height) 

King’s Spear— yellow blooms on 3’ tall stalks—thus, the “spear.” 

Dwarf Flowering Almond— pink, tiny blossoms amid small, glossy leaves. Plants are about 2’ tall.

Camelia— deep pink, showy flowers amongst gorgeous, glossy, green leaves. The blooms appear for 6–8 weeks, and when they’re gone, those glossy leaves on graceful branches remain a remarkable addition to the garden—and pretty as filler in picked bouquets. (Usually kept as 3–4’ tall shrub, but can grow taller)

Mourning Widow— (geranium family,) deep pink to purple dramatic blooms on slender stalks, about 1’ tall. Also called Dusky Cranesbill. 

Mountain Heather— lavender blossoms amidst evergreen foliage for a pretty groundcover.  

Snow-In-Summer— a white groundcover with evergreen foliage. Provides a lush, river of white along walks or in flowerbeds. 

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Now, moving into summer, we have lots of faithful and familiar plants in every color imaginable. You don’t need to read my column to call to mind 2–3 red to orange summer bloomers: Geranium, Bee Balm, and Gaillardia. Of course, Cone Flowers come in every color, as do petunias. So, let me again offer a few suggestions for summer plants that may have slipped your mind. 

Sweet Pea— pink or red blossoms on wonderfully curly vines. This is an old-fashioned favorite that will reappear each summer and add a bit of fairy magic to your flowerbeds. (low to mid-height)

Obedience Plant— deep pink to lavender is a personal favorite. This too is an old-fashioned plant that asks little of the gardener and behaves beautifully. You’ll get pretty greenery with blooms from August through October. Butterflies and hummingbirds will stop by to sip from the blossoms before these pollinators head south. (mid-height)

Plumbago— purple flowers that bloom all summer. Its leaves turn a deep mahogany in the autumn. The plants are usually about 12” tall. 

Balloon Flower— usually purple, bell-shaped blossoms on dramatic 2’ tall stalks. Definitely show-stoppers.

Blue Star— has clusters of small, blue and white star-shaped blossoms atop midsize stems with greenish-yellow leaves. Native to North America, Blue Star was first noted in the late 18th century. Cut back the stems in the fall for full, healthy bunches next spring.

Cardoon or Artichoke Thistle— lavender flower atop an eye-catching, thistle-like stalk. You’ll get lots of questions and reactions to this 4–6’ tall beauty.

Crocosmia— also called Copper Tips, has arching stems of small, dramatic flame-red trumpets, usually in clusters of stems about 3’ tall. Trim back stems as the blooms fade, and you’ll get lots of new growth. Clumps of stems can be divided in the fall providing you with new plants to share with admiring gardeners.

Butterfly Weed— with cheerful, orange blossoms, is a real boon to pollinators, as the name implies, it’s part of the Milkweed family and will bloom from May through September! (mid-height)

Potentilla or Cinquefoils— predominately orange, but available in many colors, is perfect for hanging baskets and flowerpots. Profuse, tiny blossoms set in small, green leaves will spill over edges in lovely fashion and remain low and thick. Prune to shape the plant in autumn after a summer’s worth of blooms. Avoid getting woody branches. The branches in winter are lovely, maroon features in the garden. (low to mid-height)

Pincushion Flower— orange or purple blooms resembling old-fashioned pincushions. This sweetie will bloom from late spring until mid-October. Its foliage stays green all winter, a lovely bonus. Deadheading is a good practice if you want to keep those pretty blossoms coming. (mid-height)

There you have it: another fun list of less-familiar perennials to add to your garden. They’ll help you plan for blossoms from April through October and in color palettes from shades of pink and lavender, to oranges, reds, and the ever-useful white. Your artist’s eye will surely guide your choices. 

by Janice F. Booth