Hedgerows for the Home Garden

Hedgerows originated with the emergence of farming in the Bronze Age (3500 BCE) in present-day Britain. Farmers cleared forests to make fields. To separate animals from cropland they left strips of thorny woodland, thus creating these natural boundaries. The use of hedgerows continued through the Saxon era (416–1066 AD), leaving to us their word "hege" meaning "living boundary." It has continued into the modern era. In the 1840s, the Great Salt Hedge was built across British-controlled India to prevent the smuggling of salt. This 2500-mile continuous barrier included a series of customs houses where taxes on salt were collected. In the 1930s, the United States government funded the planting of hedgerows as windbreaks to reduce the effects of the Dust Bowl. More recently, hedgerows are being rediscovered as valuable habitats. California encourages farmers to create hedgerows to enhance fruit, vegetable, and nut pollination. In Washington state, they are desired to improve water quality and salmon habitat.

When I began landscaping my current home, I did not set out to create what has become a "hedgerow surround." It happened over time as the result of planting in small steps to address complaints we had about our home landscape and planting native plants to purposefully attract wildlife to our garden. I believe other homeowners and gardeners can learn from my experience and apply it in a scale that fits their own garden, budget and ambition.

My first hedgerow effort, looking back, was a disaster! Wanting privacy, fall color, and to "help nature," I replaced a row of dying forsythia shrubs with a row of burning bush (Euonymus alatus) and butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). They grew aggressively. I later learned they both are considered invasive. Their color and flowers peak only for a short season each year. During the rest of the year, they are boring! They are also non-native species that do not serve as host plants for native butterflies.

A key learning point in my education came from Doug Tallamy in Bringing Nature Home: many alien plants now common in our surroundings were imported and promoted largely on the basis that the bugs won't eat holes in these plants. These aliens are unpalatable to our American native insects — the caterpillars that become butterflies and moths, and the beetles that become food to birds. Bottom line: the fewer food sources for the creatures who need them for their survival mean fewer of these creatures will visit my garden.

Motivated to "go native," I took inventory of our landscape, prioritizing areas to be redone. First, I replaced non-native plants in poor health--Norway maple (Acer platanoides) and weeping cherry (Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula')--and those that had a bad reputation of invasiveness or limited wildlife value — the aforementioned butterfly bush and burning bush. Secondly, I reduced lawn area and planted natives into the new beds. The goal, encouraged by Sara Stein in Noah's Garden, was ultimately "connecting each patch" of plantings in the yard, especially along boundaries, to help animals move from one patch to another.

Hedgerows 1 and 2

My first physical priority was to take out that "disaster" of a privacy border. Hedgerow #1 started in a problematic drainage area measuring 31 by 34 feet. I started by planting moisture-loving trees and shrubs to anchor the area, later adding native perennials and groundcovers (plants listed below). Fall leaves were raked into the border to act as mulch and to provide cover for wildlife. The privacy of this back-border planting was later enhanced with the addition of another native plant: a volunteer American holly (Ilex opaca).

Hedgerow #2 started much smaller. A swale was being carved through my yard by water runoff from a neighbor's lot. I had just learned about rain gardens and believed creating one would help manage this new problem. An area of lawn, approximately 16 by 17 feet, was dug out to create a water-catching basin. Three red twig dogwoods (Cornus sericea) and many native perennials were planted. This new hedgerow has solved the runoff problem and has created a beautiful new area in what was a previously bare driveway edge.

Moisture-loving Plants for Hedgerows 1 and 2

Trees and Shrubs

• River birch (Betula nigra)
• American holly (Ilex opaca)
• Red twig dogwood (Cornus sericea)
• Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata)
• Inkberry holly (Ilex glabra)

Perennials/Grasses/Groundcovers

• Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
• Blunt mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
• Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
• Pink turtlehead (Chelone lyonii)
• Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii)
• Golden ragwort (Packera aurea)
• Soft rush (Juncus effusus)
• Gray sedge (Carex grayi)
• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

Hedgerow 3

Hedgerow #3 is my "Future Forest." It will extend Hedgerow #2 by eliminating a large area of lawn, approximately 25 by 72 feet, along the driveway border. I measured the space and considered the mature size of the planned plantings carefully, to avoid growing into our neighbor's adjoining yard. After killing the Norway maple by girdling it, the topped-off trunk of the dead tree was left standing. It was soon being drilled by woodpeckers. I plan to add some lovely spring ephemerals to the developing understory.

"Future Forest" Hedgerow 3 Plants

Trees and Shrubs

• Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana)
• Pitch pine (Pinus rigida)
• Chokecherry (Prunus virginiania)
• Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata)
• Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
• Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus)

Perennials/Grasses/Groundcovers

• Smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
• False Solomon's seal (Maianthemum racemosum)
• Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)
• Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
• Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
• Hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)

A hedgerow has been described as a living fence, a layered border, a long skinny forest, and "a riot of diversity, a place pulsating with life, abuzz with creatures, a wildlife community" ("The Essential Hedgerow," Wildlife Gardeners online, February 20, 2020). My hedgerow effort has definitely paid off. More birds visit. Flocks of robins (Turdus migratorius) are swarming the winterberry hollies, and our first-ever spring warblers (Geothlypis trichas) are digging through the leaf mulch. More butterflies visit, including some uncommon species. There are even periodic visits by foxes, owls, and coyotes! The multi-season interest provided by the plantings is so beautiful. An advertising agency asked to feature my garden in a campaign they were developing. Neighbors have asked to use the garden as background for a daughter's yearbook photo. This garden perhaps even saved a marriage when a pot of golden ragwort was requested by a man so his wife wouldn't divorce him. And it's been so much fun!

Extra Tips

• Plant densely. It is more visible and appealing to birds and pollinators. It provides a better wildlife habitat.
• Plant diversely. Plant for all-season beauty, to attract varied creatures to the color and berries, and to satisfy we gardeners' love of plants!
• Buy small plants. You'll save money. Small perennials will suffer less transplant shock and will grow quickly.
• Choose your plants by their botanical/scientific name. This assures you will purchase the correct species. Many native and non-native plants have the same common name. (For example, red-twig dogwood.)
• Shop the Master Gardener plant sales. This is a great way to acquire harder-to-find native plants.
• Follow proper planting and watering techniques. This will keep the hedgerow plants healthy and growing their best.
• Prune shrubs periodically. Prune for health. Shape them to allow light to enter. Time your pruning so as not to interfere with wildlife. Prune in late winter for the birds because from March through August is their nesting season. From fall through early winter, the plants host insects.
• Remove invasive plants both before planting your hedgerow and later when you spot "volunteers."
• Certify your garden as "Pollinator Friendly" with the Penn State Master Gardeners.

For Additional Information

Hedgerows

• Native Hedges and Hedgerows: Beauty and Biodiversity - Ecological Landscape Alliance
• The Essential Hedgerow

Native Plants

• Pennsylvania Native Plants for the Perennial Garden
• Useful Native Plant References
• Pollinator Garden Certification

Plant Care

• How to Plant