The Best Hedges to Use to Make a Wall With

Tall Walls

• Tall walls can be created by planting dense, compact trees close together. American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica) grows to 90 feet tall and are difficult to transplant. Eastern white pine (pinus strobus) reaches 80 feet tall and needs shearing to maintain manageable height. Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) grows to 80 feet in height and is difficult to grow in some areas.

  Shingle oak (Quercus imbricaria) grow to 75 feet and sometimes retains its leaves into the winter. Giant arborvitae (Thuja plicata) can reach 70 feet in height, but it does not thrive in dry conditions. White fir (Abies concolor) grows to 65 feet tall with silver-green to blue needles. European hornbean (Carpinus betulus) reaches 60 feet with a narrow, upright form.

Short Walls

• Low-growing dense shrubs can make a short wall to divide areas or form barriers that you can see over. Korean boxwood (Buxus microphylla koreana) is an evergreen that grows 4 feet high; dwarf boxwood (Buxus sempervirens Suffruticosa) reaches 3 feet. Evergreen bittersweet (Euonymus fortunei Sarcoxie) grows to 4 feet tall and produces pink and orange fruit.

  Shrubby St. John's wort (Hypericum prolificum) develops showy yellow flowers near the first of July on the ends of 3-foot branches. True lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is a low-growing woody herb that produces blue flowers in the middle of summer. Use this 3-foot tall hedge for small areas. Dwarf European cranberry bush (Viburnum opulus Nanum) is 3 feet tall with a rounded growing habit.

Flowering Walls

• One option for a wall is to grow flowering hedges. The flowers produce a point of interest on your hedge wall. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) is 7 feet tall with small yellow flowers in the middle of May. This thorny shrub has green leaves and produces showy red fruit. It will grow in areas with poor growing conditions. Japanese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) grows between 3 to 6 feet tall with red, white, orange or pink flowers in May. Some species of this thorny shrub produce quince fruits. Cornelian cherry (cornus mas) can tower up to 24 feet tall. During the first part of April this small tree has small yellow flowers, which turn into red fruit by summer.