How to Plant a Hedgerow

A hedgerow can offer beauty, productivity, biodiversity, and much more! Discover how to plant a hedgerow to meet your needs on your permaculture homestead.

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A hedgerow is a narrow strip of mixed plantings, which I distinguish from a hedge—a planting of a single species. In 10 Reasons to Plant a Suburban Hedgerow, I outlined some of the top benefits that a hedgerow can provide, including privacy, water conservation, a buffer to noise, wind, or pollution, and more.

The type of hedgerow you plant will depend on what purpose you want it to serve, the sun exposure of the area, soil conditions, wildlife activity, etc.

Hedgerows are mostly comprised of perennial species. Quick-growing annual plants can fill the gaps while a young hedgerow becomes established. For hedgerows to have the effects you desire, it will be important to maintain it for at least two years by watering and weeding while it becomes established.

Design your Hedgerow

The layout of the hedgerow will depend on its desired function and location. Hedgerows are often used along property lines but they can also be used to divide sections of a property such as animal paddocks or dividing play areas from garden areas. Hedgerows can also be utilized to manage water flow, if built as swales or contour gardens.

See: 6 Maps to Draw for the Permaculture Designed Homestead.

Hedgerows are always longer than they are wide. Dave Jacke, author of Edible Forest Gardens, suggests 40 feet is the critical width for creating a biologically rich and fertile ecosystem that attracts and holds beneficial insects, wildlife, and a diversity of plants; though I doubt most property owners will have the space for this.

If you can swing it, a hedgerow that is at least 10 feet wide (20 feet long) is a minimum size so it can incorporate several rows of plants to be effective. I think hedgerows are beneficial no matter their size, so even a single row of plantings along a property line can do wonders.

By comparison, farmland hedgerows can be as wide as 100 feet, stretching a minimum of 60 feet from a water source in riparian zones.

Hedgerows have a lot of similarities with food forests and fruit tree guilds.

Photo Credit: daryl_mitchell Flickr

Prepare the Planting Area

On large-scale properties, it might be necessary to till the hedgerow area before planting. Add 2 inches of compost and let rest for two weeks before planting.

For a small hedgerow, sheet mulching is a healthier approach.

To sheet mulch the area, cut back any unwanted growth and remove unwanted woody plants. Use a digging fork to aerate the soil throughout. Cover the area in cardboard, overlapping the ends so that the soil is entirely covered. Amend hardpan soil with a layer of aged manure topped with shredded leaves or straw, then top with at least 4 inches of compost soil. Wait two weeks before planting.

If you deal with poison ivy in your hedgerow area, read about how to kill poison ivy first.

Your hedgerow can include a variety of canopy and understory trees, fruit trees, berry and nut bushes, flowering and native trees and shrubs, evergreen trees and bushes, and herbs, flowers, and ground covers, your choice of which will depend on how much space you have and what you hope your hedgerow will accomplish.

Choose Your Foundational Plantings

The tallest plantings will establish the foundation of the hedgerow. In a residential setting with a 20-foot long hedgerow, you’ll likely skip tall canopy trees and start with dwarf trees or shrubs as your base planting.

Organize your hedge plantings so the tallest species are closest to the property line or fence. Work inward to layer your plants from tallest to shortest.

Give each plant 75% of its suggested plant spacing. This will ensure that the hedge is full and compact at maturity.

Photo Credit: hardworkinghippy Flickr

For example, dwarf apple trees are expected to get 8-10 feet wide. (See: 5 Steps to Planting Fruit Trees.) If I were planting a row of apple trees in my hedge, I would plant them about 8 feet away from the property line or fence to ensure I had enough space for harvest on the fenceline, spacing the trees about 7.5 feet from one another width-wise. Alternating them with evergreen bushes would help with privacy, if that is a concern.

Mahonia, also called grape holly, is an evergreen shrub that reaches around 4-8 feet wide. It can be used in privacy and wildlife hedgerows. The purple berries are edible for humans, too, and make a delicious jelly. I would plant Mahonia about 4 feet away from the property line, and 6 feet from each other to accommodate the maximum width.

Choose Your Support Plantings

Shrubs, herbs, flowers, and ground covers all make up the support species of your hedgerow.

Your second tallest plants will be planted next: slightly in front of, and staggered in between, your foundation plants.

For example, to plant hazelnut shrubs that are expected to reach 10 feet wide, I would plant them about 7.5 feet away from the base of the apple trees.

Support plantings that face south or west will receive more sunlight over time (in the northern hemisphere) than plants facing north or east. You’ll have to choose appropriate plants for the sun exposure.

You may weave a walking path into the design so you can easily visit and maintain the area without stepping on plants or compacting soft garden soil.

Continue adding species according to diminishing height and width away from the property line. Red currants expected to reach 3-5 feet wide would be staggered about 5.5 feet in front of the hazelnuts, for example.

Photo Credit: Ron Schott Flickr

Shade-tolerant herbaceous perennials can be planted underneath the trees and shrubs, or try growing mushrooms in an edible hedge. Sun-loving wildflower seeds and clover can be sprinkled throughout to fill in the spaces until everything is established.

Start small: You don’t have to plant the entire hedgerow at once. Plant it in sections or in layers—all tall trees first, or one length of fence at a time—so you’re not overwhelmed.

When to Plant

Hedgerows contain mostly perennial species, which are best planted in the spring or fall. Plant perennials on a cloudy day, especially in hot weather, to reduce shock.

After planting, water and mulch well to reduce weeds.

Would you like to learn more about using the power of plants to improve the biodiversity of your garden, reduce maintenance, and increase yield?

You’ll find loads of information just like this in my book, The Suburban Micro-Farm.

What to Plant

The plants you choose will depend on the function and location of your hedgerow. For most functions, a mixture of trees, shrubs, nitrogen fixing plants, and herbs will create the most successful hedgerow.

To create a self-sustaining ecosystem, choose plants that perform more than one function. For example, a holly bush can be a windbreak, privacy screen, and bird habitat. Yarrow will attract pollinators and beneficial insects, will help break up clay soil and will accumulate nutrients for fertilizer.

Below is a list of various plant species that will do well in a hedgerow, but this isn’t an exhaustive list, and your hedgerow need not be limited to these suggestions. There are many more plants beyond these suggestions, and you may need to do more research to find plants that are appropriate to your climate.

Photo Credit: Distant Hill Gardens Flickr

Plant a Fedge

A food hedge, or hedge made of edible species, is sometimes referred to as a fedge. Below I’ve noted species that have edible components with an asterisk.

Tall Trees (windbreak)

• Alder
• Black Locust
• Hackberry*
• Oak*
• Poplar
• Walnut*

Evergreens (for Privacy, Noise Reduction, Windbreaks, and Wildlife)

• Boxwoods
• Holly Bushes
• Junipers
• Mahonia*
• Yews

Edible Species (For Wildlife and Food Forests)*

Edible Understory Trees:

Consider dwarf or semi-dwarf for small hedgerows.

• American persimmon
• Apple
• Cherry
• Cornelian cherry
• Crabapple
• American Hawthorn
• Hazelnut
• Mulberry
• Pawpaw
• Peach
• Pear
• Plum

Edible Understory Bushes:

• Blueberry
• Currant
• Elderberry
• Gooseberry
• Goumi
• Nanking cherry
• Rose
• Serviceberry
• Staghorn sumac

See also: How to Grow a Jelly Garden

Flowering Plants (For Beauty, Fragrance, Beneficial Insects & Pollinators)

Flowering Understory Trees & Bushes:

• False Indigo
• Flowering dogwood*
• Lilac*
• Maryland Senna
• Red Osier dogwood
• Witch Hazel*

Flowering Herbs for Sunny Edges :

• Anise Hyssop*
• Calendula*
• Clover*
• Dandelion*
• Fennel*
• Russian Comfrey
• Yarrow

Nitrogen Fixers

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for self-maintaining ecosystems. Nitrogen fixing plants convert nitrogen in the air into a useable form in the soil for the plants that surround it. It is recommended that 50% of your plantings be nitrogen fixers. So if you choose 3 fruit trees, 3 berry bushes, and 3 herbs, then consider interspersing an equal number of nitrogen fixers throughout the area. This is a nice list of additional nitrogen fixers.

Nitrogen-Fixing Trees:

• Alder
• Black Locust

Nitrogen-Fixing Shrubs:

• False Indigo
• Goumi*
• Maryland Senna

See: 4 Berry-Producing Shrubs that Fertilize, Too!

Nitrogen-Fixing Herbs:

• Crimson Clover*
• Dutch White Clover*
• Lead Plant
• Round Headed Bush Clover
• White Prairie Clover
• Yellow Bush Lupine

Photo Credit: ideath Flickr

Nutrient Accumulators (make nutrient-rich mulch)

• Apple*
• Black Locust
• Clover*
• Dandelion*
• Flowering Dogwood*
• Lupine
• Russian Comfrey
• Walnut*
• Yarrow

Plants for Wet & Erosion Prone Areas (Riparian zones)

• Cattail*
• Elderberry*
• Flowering Dogwood*
• Gooseberry*
• Hazelnut*
• Highbush cranberry*
• Lilac*
• Maximilian Sunflower
• Miscanthus grasses (native, non-spreading)
• Pussy Willow
• Staghorn Sumac*

See: 20 Perennial Crops for Wet Soil

Shade Tolerant Plants

• Currant*
• Elderberry*
• Flowering Dogwood*
• Gooseberry*
• Hazelnut*
• Serviceberry*
• Spicebush*
• Staghorn Sumac*
• Witch Hazel*

Photo Credit: free photos Flickr

Deer Resistant Plants (Read: NOT Deer Proof. Protect while young.)

Deer-Resistant Trees:

• American holly
• Birch
• Buckeye
• Mimosa
• Pawpaw*
• Pine*

Deer-Resistant Shrubs:

• Barberry
• Boxwood
• Cypress
• Holly bushes
• Juniper
• Leatherleaf Mahonia*
• Red Elderberry
• Staghorn Sumac*
• Viburnum

Deer-Resistant Herbaceous Plantings*:

• Anise hyssop
• Calendula (annual)
• California poppy (annual)
• Catmint
• Daffodil
• Fern
• Lavender
• Lemon balm
• Marjoram
• Oregano
• Ramps
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Sweet alyssum (annual)
• Sweet woodruff
• Tarragon
• Thyme

Hedgerow Maintenance

Hedgerows will require some maintenance in the first 1-4 years. Water your plants in dry periods, plant in a rain-harvesting swale, or install an irrigation system. Continue to mulch annually to maintain control over the weeds. Once the system is established at full size, the hedgerow should be a self-maintaining ecosystem that requires very little maintenance.

Additional Resources:

• Planning an Edible Fedge, or Food Hedge
• Replanting Hedgerows using Permaculture Design
• Suburban Hedgerows: Grow a Living Fence
• Hedges and Hedgelaying: A Guide to Planting, Management and Conservation
• The Suburban Micro-Farm: Modern Solutions for Busy People

Need more ideas for growing a permaculture garden?

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• Implementing Your Dreams on the Permaculture Homestead
• Benefits of the Edible Forest Garden
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What will you plant in your hedge?