How to Landscape With a Hedge Fence

Considerations for landscaping with hedge fences include how much space you need to cover, the time you have to maintain a row of hedges, and how decorative they are vs. plain utilitarian. A shrub such as cinquefoil can be neatly trimmed back each year or left to grow into an impenetrable tangle. Forsythia and snowmound provide bright spring flowers while an evergreen hedge keeps its greenery year around. After examining the needs and possibilities, it becomes time to purchase the hedges and break out the shovel.

Shovel

Instructions

- 1
  Dig a trench line along the path of the hedge instead of individual holes for the shrubs. The depth and width of the trench depends upon the type of stock you choose and the size of their root balls. Reserve the soil to the side of the trench.
- 2
  Place the root balls into the trench depending upon how you plan to keep the hedge. Generally speaking a smaller formal hedge is planted closer together, around 6 to 8 inches apart. Larger hedges are planted about 12 inches apart, while those that are untrimmed will be up to 30 inches apart to allow room for growth.
- 3
  Fill in the trench and cover the root balls with the soil from the trench.
- 4
  Cut back a deciduous shrub hedge to 6 to 8 inches from the soil immediately after planting. This allows the shrub to spread and fill in the space closer to the ground which gives a more dense hedge when grown.

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