How to Plant an Edible Hedge

Site, Space, Plant

• The site of your hedge and the spacing of the shrubs depends on their preferred growing conditions and final dimensions. Most edible shrubs grow best in full sun and well-drained soil. Plant your hedge in spring, digging a trench as deep as the deepest rootball and twice as wide. Unless the plant's label says differently, space small shrubs 1/2 -- to 2 1/2 feet apart, 6- to 8-foot-tall shrubs 2 to 4 feet apart and 8 to 12-foot-tall shrubs 4 to 6 feet apart. Plant shrubs so that the surface of the soil in their container is level with the surrounding ground. Hold them upright with one hand as you scoop excavated soil into the trench with the other, then firm the soil around their roots. Water thoroughly after planting. Spreading a 3-inch layer of organic mulch helps retain moisture throughout the growing season.

Cut Loose and Feed

• Pruning and aftercare requirements differ according to the type of shrub in your edible hedge. Prune deciduous plants to 6 to 8 inches above the ground after planting, and shape evergreens lightly. Avoid removing young shoots on fruiting hedges at later prunings because new or one-year-old wood often bears fruit. Remove wood more than 2 years old and dead, damaged and diseased material to allow light into the center of the shrub and promote fruit bearing and ripening. Fertilize your hedge every week to two weeks with 18-18-21 fertilizer diluted at a rate of 1 tablespoon per gallon of water or according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Low-Hanging Fruit

• Shrubs suitable for low edible hedges include shrubby herbs and short fruiting bushes. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) provide an aromatic hedge, bearing evergreen, fragrant leaves and edible summer flowers. Rosemary grows 2 to 6 feet tall and 2 to 4 feet wide, and it is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 through 10. Hyssop, hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9, grows 18 to 24 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide. Gooseberry also grows well as a hedge. "Poorman" (Ribes "Poorman," hardy in USDA zones 4 through 6, grows 3 to 4 feet tall and wide, bearing red summer fruit.

Great Expectations

• Fruit-bearing, dense, tall shrubs and small trees make effective large, edible hedges. Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) grows 6 to 12 feet tall and 8 to 12 feet wide and bears medium blue summer blueberries. A deciduous shrub, it requires acidic soil and is hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8. Highbush blueberry also provides attractive red and purple fall foliage. Feijoa (Feijoa sellowiana) is a small evergreen tree, bearing fleshy green or yellow fruit in late summer and fall, and growing 10 to 15 feet tall and wide. Feijoa is hardy in USDA zones 8 through 11 and grows best in well-drained soil in full-sun or partial-shade sites.