The free-standing hedge is a modern-day hedge in which the gardener has intervened. This means that the plants have been consciously chosen and planted, unlike the natural hedge.
Choice of species for an open hedge
In the free hedge, local species are preferred, respecting the following proportion in its composition: 1/3 deciduous plants (hazelnut) and 2/3 evergreen plants (tin laurel) or the opposite, but in all cases conifers are to be avoided.
Regarding the choice of deciduous species, we prefer melliferous species (buddleia) to provide pollen and nectar to foragers, as well as flowering species (hibiscus) for their aesthetic side.
Advice:
- The use of 1, 2 or 3 trees can give verticality to a horizontal hedge.
- The combination of upright and stocky species is more aesthetically pleasing than the use of a single type of plant.
Advantages of an open hedge
- It is a place that attracts and protects beneficial insects;
- It is a hedge that evolves with the seasons, that is "alive";
- It is a hedge that requires much less maintenance than a pruned hedge: 0 to 1 pruning per year for the free hedge against 2 to 4 prunings per year for the pruned hedge.
To obtain the minimum of maintenance, it is necessary to choose the species that will compose it. Ideally, you should seek the help of a professional.
To help gardeners, nurserymen offer "ready-to-plant" hedge kits.
Planting an open hedge
An open hedge takes up a lot of space, precisely because it is not very well trimmed. Plan on a minimum width of 1.50 meters.
Indoors, the plants can be spaced 1 meter apart. To obtain a beautiful, dense hedge, opt for a staggered planting, in two rows spaced about 60 cm apart. This arrangement allows you to obtain a closed visual while giving relief to the whole.
Pruning an open hedge
In an open hedge, if you choose to prune, you must respect the physiology of each plant. Pruning is therefore done according to the flowering period of the plant: spring flowering plants will be pruned just after flowering while summer flowering shrubs will be pruned in February/March.
Tip
Install a tarp at the foot of the shrubs to limit the development of weeds and to keep the soil moist, which is necessary for the plants to recover.
