How to Plant a Hedge

Whether you’re planting one hedge or many, planning is key. Decide where you want to plant. Will your hedges mark a property boundary? Border a front walkway or driveway? Frame a flower garden? You need to visualize the design and know exactly how much space you have to work with so you can space plants appropriately for well-designed, interlocking growth.

If you’re not sure what kind of hedges you want to plant, do some research on the Internet or consult gardening publications to find out which type will work best in your soil, in your region, and meet the intended application. For our purposes here, there are two basic categories of hedge plants: evergreen and deciduous. Of these, evergreens are the most common, and the type that usually comes to mind when one thinks of hedges. When buying hedge plants, be sure you know how they grow and how much they grow, especially if you’ll be intermixing different types of shrubs for your hedgerow.

Helpful Tip
Deciduous plants lose their leaves in winter. If you want year-round hedges, plant evergreen hedge plants.

Helpful Tips
Try to choose plants that are at or close to the height that you want your hedge to be. Keep in mind though, that larger plants may require some additional hands to help you move them around. Ask a family member, a friend or a neighbor to be your assistant.

To avoid damage, always pick up your shrubs by the root ball and not the trunk.

Step 2: Prepare the Planting Site

Use a tape measure to determine the dimensions of your planting site. The length will vary; width is what you want to pay special attention to. The width can vary also, due to the size of plants. A good rule of thumb is that the site should be about 1′ wider than the root ball. So, measure out a width of 2′ to 3′ for a standard-sized hedge. Using a hammer, drive wooden stakes into the ground to mark this measurement. Continue hammering stakes at this width in intervals along the required length of the site. Attach a length of gardening twine to one stake by tying it and then run the twine along the rest of the stakes in the same way to mark your hedge site.

Add a 2″ layer of compost or organic fertilizer (according to directions) to the planting site and then use a tiller to break up the soil and mix it and compost/fertilizer together. Lightly water the site using a garden hose.

Safety Alert!
It’s a good idea to check with your local utility companies about the location of gas, water, telephone or other utility lines and if there are any digging restrictions or requirements for those areas.

Helpful Tip
Save yourself considerable cleanup time by piling the soil that was removed for the trench onto a plastic sheet or tarp. This also prevents the piled dirt from damaging the grass around the trench.

Helpful Tip
It’s a good idea to mix some peat moss and a small amount of plant food into the soil you replace around your new hedge.

After planting, use pruning shears to cut off any dead or damaged growth and remove any wayward branches that don’t conform to the shape of your hedge. Water the planting site thoroughly so that the roots can become established.

Step 5: Prune and Water the Hedge Regularly

Prune hedges regularly to promote health, growth and density. Once per month during growing season should be adequate. This will keep the plant at peak growth and shape your hedge so that it looks its best. Cut just a couple of inches off at a time so you’re cutting into newest growth. Remove dead or diseased branches. Wrap up pruning about a month before it gets cold in your region, as new growth will be exposed to cold temperatures which can harm the plant.

Helpful Tip
Keep the hedge shape uniform. If the top of the hedge becomes wider than the bottom, it will shade the bottom of the plant and weaken it.

Water the hedge regularly to keep it healthy and productive. Add fertilizer to the soil at least once a year during the growing season.

Great job! You’re done!

Project Shopping List

Here’s what you’ll need to complete this project successfully.

• Hedge plants
• Tape measure
• Hammer
• Wood stakes
• Gardening twine
• Compost
• Organic fertilizer
• Tiller
• Garden Hose
• Round-point shovel
• Plastic sheet
• Tarp
• Utility knife
• Mulch
• Sphagnum peat moss
• Tree and shrub plant starter plant food
• Hedge shears
• Hose nozzle
• 13″ digital soil pH meter