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6 ways to beautifully and inexpensively arrange a hedge in the country: hedge, chain-link, camouflage
It is not necessary to buy corrugated board to make a fence on the site. A hedge can save you from prying eyes.
Summer residents know: a fence costs a lot of money. A reliable and high metal fence costs an unbearable amount, and it looks so-so. A beautiful wooden or brick fence is comparable in price to buying a car. And the summer resident is left alone with a transparent fence made of chain-link: through it you can see everything, including lovers of someone else’s good. How to protect yourself from prying eyes, says our consultant, agronomist and vegetable grower Dmitry Lukyanov.
Camouflage
The easiest and cheapest way is a camouflage net, sold in garden markets with a 3×2 m canvas.There are also more elegant ways to cover the fence with synthetic materials: a plastic matting for bamboo, artificial needles or foliage, variegated foliage. The material retains its beauty for 3 years, then fade. It is recommended to start planting a hedge at the same time: it will gain strength just by the time the artificial one loses its appearance.
Natural materials
Mats made from natural reeds or vines are sold in rolls, last up to 10 years and are convenient for decorating not only fences, but also any other unsightly surfaces. A very beautiful option is a hazel wattle, it not only blocks, but also gives the site a rustic flavor, retains a pretty look for many years. There are ready-made wattle fence sections on sale. At a low price, we get a decent result here and at the same time use environmentally friendly materials.
Climbing vines
The option of planting fast-growing climbing plants along the netting is suitable only for summer cottages, but not for a country house, because the effect of the fence lasts only from the beginning of summer to October. To create such a hedge, perennial vines are needed: maiden grapes (by autumn, the fence from it acquires a crimson color), decorative hops, clematis. The fence can also be decorated with annual plants, such as bindweed. The curly dolichos beans look great – everything in it is decorative: purple leaves, large beautiful flowers and fruits. In addition, it grows extremely quickly, reaching up to 4–5 meters in height.
Decorative
A free-growing hedge of deciduous shrubs will require the least worries. For these purposes, lilacs, chubushnik (garden jasmine), honeysuckle, chokeberry are perfect (it must be cut every spring to fluff). Walls that are resistant and undemanding to care will be obtained from the brilliant cotoneaster and the viburnum blister. You can make a hedge from a bicolor bicolor – alternate in plantings Diablo (purple leaves) and Aurea (golden foliage).
classical
This is a decorative coniferous fence that requires a haircut. For the climate near Moscow, western thuja (varieties Brabant, Columna, Smaragd, Fastigiata) or any variety of Virginia juniper is best suited. The first spring after planting, get ready for the thuja to turn red. It’s okay – this is how the plant reacts to stress from transportation and planting. Juniper will look good, it is more resistant to stress and the vagaries of the weather. In the most shady areas, you can form a hedge of ordinary pyramidal juniper, it is perfectly trimmed. Do not try to save money by planting a juniper dug in the forest – it is not suitable for a garden and will die in the first year.
Protective
To surely protect yourself from the visits of strangers and animals, you can plant a wall that is absolutely impassable thanks to its spikes. A hedge made from hawthorn, rose hips, thorns, barberry, yellow acacia (caragana) or Manchurian aralia is much more effective than a regular fence. At the same time, they grow extremely quickly – for example, acacia gives an increase of up to 50 cm per year. Please note that such a fence is unsafe for small children or pets: they can get hurt on thorns.
It is important
To create a reliable hedge, it is necessary to deliberately thicken the plantings. The norm is 3-5 bushes per running meter, 3 plants in a row (large bushes such as blackberry, hawthorn, bladder) or 5 plants in 2 rows in a checkerboard pattern (smaller ones – cotoneaster, mahonia, barberry).