Purdue University
Consumer Horticulture

Released: 4-16-98

B. Rosie Lerner
Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist

If you're looking for an attractive way to build privacy around your home, consider a hedge planting. Hedges also can be used to clarify property lines and walkways or as living fences.

Many plants can be trained as a hedge, but the best choices are plants that are naturally dense and compact. Most plants will need considerable pruning attention, especially if a formal appearance is desired.

Deciduous shrubs, such as euonymus, barberry and privet, will usually provide screening during only the portion of the year when the plants are in leaf. Evergreens, such as yew, boxwood, rhododendron and juniper, provide year-round effectiveness. Even flowering shrubs, such as forsythia, rose and lilac, can be used as hedges, particularly for a more informal landscape.

When pruning a hedge, most people make the mistake of waiting until the plants are too tall to begin training. This leads to a wider top, which causes the bottom to be shaded out. As the lower growth is shaded, it will become weak and leggy. As a general rule, stems should be cut back 6 inches every time they grow 12 inches. Some plants will need to be pruned several times during the growing season to maintain a formal hedge.

Many homeowners inherit the bad hedge habits of the home's previous owner. To rejuvenate an overgrown hedge, there are several choices. If the plants are not too badly overgrown, cut back the sides and the top 6 inches below the desired final height. This will leave room to shape the new growth as it develops.

Some plant species, such as forsythia, lilac, spirea and honeysuckle, can be cut back to just above the ground and retrained as if a new hedge were planted. For other shrubs, use a technique called renewal pruning, in which approximately one-third of the larger, older stems are removed completely back to the ground. The second year, cut another one-third of the largest older stems. By the third year's cutting, all growth should be relatively young, productive stems.

Evergreen shrubs also can be cut back severely, but be sure you cut back to stems that are still green since the nongreen portions will not produce any new growth.

The URL for this page is http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/hedges.html