How to Grow Privacy Hedges in the Fall

Hedges screen out noise, create privacy and cover up unsightly views. Additionally, installing a row of shrubs or small trees costs less than a fence would, while adding natural beauty to your yard. Fall is a fine time to enhance your yard by planting a privacy hedge. Consider what qualities you most want in a hedge, then select shrubs accordingly.

Spade or tiller
Compost
Shrubs
Mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Remove any unwanted vegetation from the area where you wish to plant a hedge, then till the soil with a spade or a garden tiller. Till an area about two or three feet wide that stretches the length of your intended hedge.
- 2
  Spread about a three-inch layer of compost, peat moss or aged manure on your tilled soil and till it in.
- 3
  Select the shrub that you want for your hedge. Consider what will grow well in your soil and climate. Think too about how tall you want the hedge to be. Smaller varieties of holly, azaleas, or Indian hawthorn grow into nice 3- to 5-foot hedges, while sasanqua, gardenia and camellia easily grow to 6 to 10 feet tall.
- 4
  Plant the shrubs in a single row so the top of the root ball is level with the ground or just slightly above ground. Space your shrubs based on the expected spread of an individual shrub. Make sure you plant them close enough to each other so that as they grow, they will fill in to form a solid row of hedge, but do not overcrowd them.
- 5
  Mulch the area and water thoroughly. Trim plants by about one third of their height after planting.

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