Contributed by Ethan Mimnaugh, Mooloolah Landcare Nursery
A hedge can be a stately feature down a driveway, along a road, or screening a neighbour’s big kitchen window.
A windbreak is a useful landscaping technique which blocks out prevailing winds which dry up soil and bring cold chills.
A natural fence is the ideal combination of privacy, security, and nature.
Many of us may think differently about these structures; that they are a lot of work, and need maintenance or upkeep.
Today I’m hoping to show you that these classic concepts have the permanence, resilience, and self sufficiency of nature built into them, if they are designed correctly.
When creating a hedge, it is important to consider the height and branching habit of the plant species you are going to use.
Plants which have branches which go off at many angles are good, as their branches will grow into their neighbours branches and quickly fill space.
Velvet Leaf (Callicarpa pedunculata) or Quinnine Bush (Petalostigma pubescens) are two species which have this branching pattern and make attractive hedges.
The height of the plant is also important. Many plants (especially Lillypillies) are sold as hedging plants and people end up constantly hedging them.
Being large trees, they grow quickly and fill out an area quickly, especially when pruned, and this is not always a commitment people want to make.
The way then, to grow a shorter plant to its maximum size quickly, is to plant a hedge densely. A densely planted hedge will grow upwards more quickly, and then reach its maximum height within a few years from a tubestock.
This method can be used with many plants and works well with both a smaller plant like Weeping Baeckea (Beackea frutescens) and the larger Sandpaper Figs (Ficus coronata).
Soft leafed plants like the above mentioned Baeckea are also excellent windbreaks. The traits of the best windbreak plants are small leaves, and fine branches, with lots of flexibility. This softens the turbulence created by stopping the wind, which causes even calmer winds.
The Forest and Coastal She-Oak (Allocasuarina littoralis and torulosa) both make excellent windbreaks in areas which allow for taller trees, but in areas that require something smaller, you could use the endangered Mount Emu She-Oak (Allocasuarina emuina) or the Irish Wattle (Acacia oshanesii).
If you wanted to add security there are a few options. The first option is to include species which are spiky and uncomfortable to get past.
This could be Barbed Wire Vine (Smilax australis) amongst an existing bit of vegetation, or planting Native Raspberries (Rubus species) along an unfenced border. Raspberries have the added benefit of giving a tasty treat to passers-by.
The second option would be to plant an area with lots of vines.
A complete tangle of thin, strong vines like Scrambling Lilly (Geitenoplesium cymosum) or Wombat Berry (Eustrephus latifolius) combined with the strength of Monkey Rope Vine (Parsonsia straminea), Bellbird Vine (Melodinus australis), or Bower of Beauty (Pandorea jasminoides) would be a formidable obstacle for most.
The third option is correct management of a hedge. A hedge can be a solid barrier if it is pruned in the correct way.
Once a hedge has reached 2 or so metres tall. Its branches, or even entire trunks, can be cut into. Using this cut, each plant is then bent across the plants next to it. The trunk can even be woven into its neighbours.
This is repeated across the entire hedge, creating a wall. Over time, this wall solidifies, and can be thinned and rewoven as necessary.
If you are trying to keep your already grown hedge the same size, then using a hedger can create a compounding problem when the plant only grows leaves on its tips, and then when its pruned, the hedge becomes nothing but sticks.
This can lead to the plant dying and never looks good.
Doing a deep prune, where you follow individual branches back into the hedge, and cut them from their original branching point, allows for much more light to get into the plant, for it to develop leaves throughout its structure, rather than only on the tip.
Hopefully you’ve learned some things about hedgers, windbreaks, and natural fences. If you want to come and grab any of the plants I mentioned, or learn more, come down to Mooloolah River Landcare!