Creating a Hedgerow On the Property Line

[lucyem]

We live on a dirt road with a fair amount of traffic by vehicle and people. Our house is over 200 years old and sits very close to the road. The property runs along the road for a little ways on both sides of the house. On one side is a stone wall with some trees and bushes. The other side is completely open. 100 years ago that side was the driveway/barnyard so no stone wall was ever there. If I had the money I would love love love to put in a stonewall the whole length of the property along the road. We decided we would eventually put a stonewall in front of the house itself using some stone we have. Then we decided some sort of hedgerow could be planted and grown along that wide open area along the road. It would give us more privacy and secondly help cut down on the amazing amounts of dust the road kicks up.

So now I am clueless as to my next step. The depth would be about 10-15 feet at max. I want it to look more wild and not something that needs to be trimmed or maintained in any way. We have to clear a lot of plantings out from around the house - bushes, trees etc due to bugs and moisture in the house so were wondering if we could transplant any of it. And if I could incorporate some fruit bearing plants so much the better. We would want to do all the work ourselves over the next couple of years. But how would I go about this kind of thing? Who would one even call?

[gmvh]

We have a lilac hedge between our yard and our neighbor's. I love it. It's not super dense in the winter but in the summer you can't see through it. We've started creating a hedge between our yard and our alley using some lilacs, staghorn sumac (more like a tree height-wise), and black raspberries. I kind of regret planting the raspberries but they definitely grow quickly and have been good at keeping people on whichever side you want them! The lilacs are nice because they send up lots of suckers and you can just whack them off and move new bits around. I don't know about the wall (sounds lovely!) but as far as the plants go, I'd decide where you want the hedge, plant some of the stuff you're digging out if you can identify it, leave some space between things, and fill in over time as you see how things respond to the site. Good luck!

[lmonter]

I think part of what you can plant would depend on where you live. I live in a chilly zone 5. And along our back fence, the previous owners planted some evergreens 25 years ago and they're pretty filled in (and stay filled in year-round) and are probably 20-25 feet tall. So we have a lot of "privacy" from our backyard neighbors who we're friends with. Well, until my 5yo found the pruning shears hubby accidentally left out. But you wouldn't do that, right?

Lilacs can be doable, but man, can they get huge, and quick. You really do need to prune them. We have two giant things on either side of the back of our house. Hubby spent an entire afternoon pruning those suckers because they got out of control since we didn't do anything last year. Anyway, they'll get 10-15 feet tall easily, and will get to having a diameter of oh, maybe 4 feet at the base and 8 feet higher up as the leafies start. And honestly, we ignore those suckers, too. So they grow completely on their own. They get pretty twig-like in the winter though, so they're not as pretty then as the 2 weeks they're blooming in the spring.

If you're trying to keep some critters out (but it may not be as pretty looking), there's also the option of thorny raspberries or blackberries. Fruit, and protection. Give them a few years, and you'll wonder why on earth you started with 30 canes.

Not sure that fruit trees would do what you want, but maybe. You'd have to have them far enough from the road that the fruit wouldn't drop on the road/cars, and so you could harvest safely without mortal danger.

[MariaMadly]

Second the lilacs, but DH has a horror of their size and hunger. Our planned site is gradually creeping further and further from our porch. Maybe there's a variety of holly that would work for you? Just beautiful year-round, berries . . . make sure you get both male and female though. Rugosa roses have done well in our Zone 5 sandy situation, too. We got them as couple-inch-long bare-root plantings two or three years ago, and they're four feet high this year. Ongoing blooms, and the hips are out already.

You can always call a landscaper or nursery, but that can mean $$$. Local garden club? County extension office?

I love stone walls, too! DH is slowly working on ours and happily planning on hauling boulders around too. THOSE grow really well here.

[Owen'nZoe]

Not knowing which zone you are in makes it hard to recommend plants, but if you want help with the design, you could go to a landscape architect (or maybe even your local garden center, depending on the services they offer) and just have them draw up a plan. Having a landscaping company do all of the work would be expensive, but I've talked to neighbors who have had landscapers draw up plans for them for as little as $50.

In my zone (zone 4), I have a mixed hedge row made up of lilacs, korean spice bush, Highbush Cranberry, Elderberry, Hazelnut, Goumi, and Barberry. The Elderberry, hazelnut and goumi are edible. If I had gotten the right variety of highbush cranberry, I hear that would have been edible, too, but the one I have (also called a guelder rose) tastes really awful.

[dbsam]

You can use what you are moving from the house and then fill in with red twig dogwood shrubs. I am in zone five and they do great. Although bare, they have the nice red colored twigs in winter. Like lilacs, they can get large but are very durable. You can cut them back whenever they get out of hand and they come back nicely. I used to let mine go year after year and never pruned. Now I hack them back every year and they get to six-eight foot by the end of summer. Occasional pruning of old wood will keep them fuller in the middle and brighter red in the winter.

I've seen people use grasses as a screen. You can keep them up through the winter.

Although many people dislike them, I really like clump Hawthorns. They are very thorny (we planted them prior to having children.) Since having the children we keep the bottom branches trimmed and they still make a great screen; that birds love. The sounds of all the birds in these trees could probably block out traffic noise! I regret planting my three too close together - spread out they w/h made a much better
screen.

We've also planted a row of trunk Hawthorns to provide privacy over our picket fence. It worked well until this year when several died.