Natural Privacy With Evergreen Hedge Plants
Robert Frost said that "good fences make good neighbors". Of course, a good fence cost a lot less in Frost's day. A more economic, natural and effective alternative is to use evergreen hedge plants to get some privacy from prying eyes and to do discourage passing kids and wandering drunks. How effective are they? A thriving evergreen hedge plant is like a series of coiled barbed wire. You need a flame thrower in order to get through them.
Know Your Soil Type
Ideally, you want to choose evergreen hedge plants that are native to the area where you live. They will be more disease resistant and will be used to the weather conditions. However, not everywhere in the country have native evergreen hedge plants to choose from. In any case, you should know your soil type (chalky, sandy, moist, whatever) and choose your evergreen hedge plants that thrive in your type of soil.
Popular Types
Three of the most popular types of evergreen hedge plants include boxwood, privet and yew. There are many different species within these family types and not all of them are evergreen. One of the reasons we have the word privacy is from privet. In fact, the English slang, "visiting the privy" meant to use the out door hole in the ground surrounded by privet for assured privacy.
Planting
You could just hire a professional to plant your evergreen hedge plants for you, but what fun would that be? Talk to your doctor to be sure that you are fit enough to do such intensive gardening. It's best to pound stakes into the ground and run a tight clothesline to help guide your planting and keep the hedge relatively straight.
Then, you have to dig a major trench for as long as you want the hedge to run. You need the trench to be at least four inches deep and two feet wide. That's a lot of digging. And you're not done yet. Now you have to dig the individual holes for the young evergreen hedge plants to grow in. They are often sold in plant pots or in burlap bags. Measure the rootball to see how big your holes should be. Your holes should be twice as wide as the rootballs.
Then you get to do even more digging - oh, joy. You dig the hole, stick the rootball of each young evergreen hedge plant in, and then cover up. Make your holes about two feet apart, so the plants won't choke each other. Then, kick yourself for not hiring somebody to do this for you.
