A defensive hedge

Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary to protect oneself from intruders on a property. Defensive hedges composed of dissuasive shrubs are a good solution to curb bad intentions.

What is a defensive hedge?

A defensive hedge creates a physical and vegetal barrier that is impenetrable. It is often installed at the property line to prevent the passage of animals or ill-intentioned people. To be effective, the plants that make up the fence must be at least 1.60 m high and 1.20 m thick, and must be prickly or very dense.

Choice of shrubs for a defensive hedge

The mahonia is a shrub of choice to create a defensive hedge. Its leaves are lined with sharp thorns and don't really make you want to rub up against them. Its evergreen foliage turns red in the fall and serves as a backdrop for its yellow flowering clusters that appear in winter and attract pollinating insects. It likes cool soil and is very hardy.

The Pyracantha or burning bush, is one of the best known shrubs for creating a defensive hedge. Very dense, up to 3 meters high and thorny, it produces red or orange berries. Its foliage is evergreen. This very rustic shrub, likes the majority of soils. It supports the drought and the sea spray and can thus be planted in the South and/or at the seaside.

If you are not a fan of tidy gardens, or if the property to be protected is a simple field in the countryside, you can plant a bramble hedge. It will become dense and impenetrable and you will be able to eat blackberries, but beware of the work that awaits you to maintain it!

The barberry is a deciduous shrub, very easy to grow since it grows in almost any soil and in any exposure and is very hardy. It is ornamental with its pink and yellow flowers and brilliant red berries.

In the warmest regions and in very well drained soil, several species of cactus can do the trick. Plant for example Cylindropuntia imbricata which will reach 3 meters in height for as much spread. Its stems are impenetrable and it produces beautiful pink flowers.

Many opuntias are also suitable for the creation of defensive hedges, the choice is vast among species, you will find the plant that suits you without worry.

How to plant a defensive hedge?

Prepare the ground about fifteen days in advance, preferably in the fall. Remove stones and wild grasses. Add the necessary amendments according to the nature of the soil: sand and compost in heavy and humid soil, decomposed manure in poor soil, heather soil to correct a calcareous soil...

Soak the clumps of your shrubs in a basin of water at room temperature. During this time dig holes of 80 cm in all directions, in staggered rows. Space them at a maximum of 80 cm apart to create a dense hedge.

If you choose deciduous shrubs, keep a proportion of 1/3 for 2/3 of evergreens so that the hedge keeps its function.

Add compost and ground horn to the bottom of the holes and plant your shrubs.

Water abundantly.

A hedge resistant to sea spray

Gardens exposed to the sea are subject to the harshness of sea winds and spray. To protect them effectively, a hedge composed of shrubs resistant to these specific conditions will provide a perfect protective barrier.

A windbreak hedge

At the seaside, winds are often very present. Waves break on the shore in micro-droplets of water carried by sea breezes covering the surrounding vegetation with salt. Knowing this, the plants chosen for your windbreak hedge will have to withstand such conditions and be persistent to protect the garden all year long.

The best hedge shrubs to withstand salt spray

Here is a selection of shrubs specially chosen for their resistance to wind and spray:

Viburnums

Hardy and easy to grow, even for novice gardeners, viburnums or "viburnums" make beautiful flowering hedges in winter. Some varieties are very fragrant, which adds to the plant's charm.

Pittosporum

This is a very large genus with nearly 200 species! Plenty to choose from. Among them, the Japanese pittosporum, very hardy and resistant to sea spray and prevailing winds. It forms dense hedges with beautiful shiny green foliage. In late spring, its white flowers add to the charm of the garden.

Elaeagnus

Evergreen foliage with silvery tones, resistance to cold and difficult maritime conditions make this shrub the ideal subject to install as a windbreak hedge in a seaside garden. These very discreet flowers give off a sweet carnation scent.

Oleander

Reserved for very mild climates, the oleander is an ornamental subject of choice for creating hedges with flowers for long months (May to October in Mediterranean regions). Some varieties of oleander offer, in addition to the colorful bloom, a very sweet almond fragrance. The range of colors extends from pure white to bright red through all shades of pink. Be careful, the yellow varieties are more fragile.

The tamarisk

A shrub with very light foliage, the tamarisk produces beautiful pink or almost white flowering stems during the summer. Mix species in your hedge to extend the blooming period. Tamarix parviflora starts the ball rolling in April and Tamarix ramisissima takes over in late summer.

Dodonea

For gardens in the warmer parts of our country, Dodonea is an ideal hedge plant. Its bronze green foliage turns deep purple in autumn. It can grow to nearly 4 meters in height quite quickly if the growing conditions are right.

A carefree hedge

A hedge is an ideal design to mark the boundary of a property, to serve as a windbreak and a privacy screen. However, some gardeners are put off by the restrictive side of its maintenance, let's see how to compose an easy to live with hedge.

The different types of hedges

It is very useful to know the different types of hedges and their characteristics to be able to make a wise choice with low maintenance constraints.

Keep in mind that deciduous hedge plants are bare in winter and will not protect you from the wind or from view, not to mention that you will have a nice mass of leaves to collect in autumn!

Coniferous hedges and certain fast-growing shrubs require regular pruning, sometimes twice a year depending on the vigor of the trees, so it is best to avoid them.

Open hedges made up of flowering and berrying shrubs are ideal for an ever-changing décor and attract garden creatures who will find shelter and food there, but here again, always choose plants adapted to the climate, exposure and soil type of your garden to limit maintenance work.

Successful planting

As we have seen, the choice of plants is essential. If they correspond to the soil of your garden, they will necessarily be less fragile and therefore rarely sick or attacked by parasites. Make sure you know the needs of each plant before introducing them into your hedge. For example, avoid acid-loving shrubs in limestone soils or those that like heat and sun in the North of France. Adult pruning is also important if you want to avoid spending your time containing exuberant vegetation; choose moderately sized shrubs so you don't have to prune them constantly.

When planting, respect a good spacing between the subjects so that they can develop without constraint. Prepare the soil by draining it with a bed of gravel if the soil is heavy and wet to prevent certain diseases from finding a favorable soil. Add compost to the soil to balance and nourish it while lightening it.

Also think about watering, which should be regular in the first few years to ensure a good recovery. The ideal is to install an automatic drip watering system that will be activated in the evening during the warm season. One less chore for the gardener in a hurry!

Choice of plants

There are many easy to grow plants that can be used to create a hedge without any care. Among them, bamboos and their numerous species with decorative culms or variegated foliage. Be careful, an anti-rhizome barrier must be put in place as soon as the planting is done to avoid invasion, otherwise choose non-tracking species.

In the South, think of opuntias, these cactus with very graphic snowshoes if your garden is in full sun or Provence canes if your land is humid. These two plants require no maintenance and grow by themselves.

As for the more classic shrubs, the eleagnus with its silvery foliage and discreet but deliciously fragrant flowers and the photinia with its young red shoots and spring umbels will be sure values which, once well established, will require very little maintenance.

How to pollinate a trachycarpus to obtain seeds?

A beautiful, fast-growing palm, trachycarpus, better known as 'hemp palm', can adapt to most gardens thanks to its amazing hardiness. To propagate it from seed, you need some know-how. Let's see how to proceed.

Characteristics of Trachycarpus

Obtaining seeds from Trachycarpus is more complicated than it seems because this plant is dioecious, meaning that a male and a female subject are required within a limited area for the palm to form seeds. These are carried by the female plant after pollination with male flowers. Therefore, two plants are needed in the same garden or in close proximity to each other for fertilization to take place.

How to recognize a male hemp palm from a female hemp palm?

The male palm blooms in spring. It appears in the form of very dense hanging clusters of cream-colored flowers that produce a lot of pollen that falls as soon as the inflorescence is touched.

The flowering of the female subject is less spectacular and intervenes a little later. The flowers look like small yellowish grains, again placed in clusters on the inflorescence.

How to pollinate a trachycarpus?

As you have probably understood, the ideal would be for you to have a female and a male subject in your garden. If this is not the case, you will have to collect pollen from the male flowers in your nearest garden or park, or even go to a website specialized in palms in order to find an amateur near you who will be ready to give you the famous pollen.

Equipment needed:

• A paintbrush;
• a small iron box;

How to proceed?

Wait until the male palm is well developed and then take a tin can or a glass jar and a brush;

Shake the inflorescence on top of your container to make the pollen fall in;

You can use the brush if necessary;

Close the container to avoid losing the pollen during transport if the two subjects are far apart;

A female flower is optimally receptive to pollination within 12 to 72 hours after opening, so you should aim for the right moment. Finally, if possible...

With the brush, take the pollen and pass it delicately on the female flowers;

Keep some pollen to repeat the operation for 3 successive days to maximize your chances of success.

After the pollination of the trachycarpus

All you have to do is wait for the seeds to form on the female plant. If this is the case, your artificial pollination is successful! Then wait for the seeds to mature before sowing them in a pot containing a very light mixture of potting soil and river sand.

Place the seeds in full light and water so that the substrate never dries out completely.

Over time, change the pot to accommodate the growth of the plant and then install it in the garden in the spring two years later.

Acclimatization of palms

Acclimatization is necessary in cold regions

Acclimatization of palms is a very important and necessary step for their successful integration into our gardens, as these are so-called exotic plants. This means that they normally live in an environment where the growing conditions, the nature of the soil and the climate are very different from ours.

Depending on the region where the garden is located, the acclimatization period will be more or less easy and more or less long. In fact, in the Mediterranean climate, given the warm temperatures in all seasons, acclimatization of palms is not necessary in principle. On the other hand, acclimatization is mandatory further north, as soon as winter temperatures are cooler.

The acclimatization of plants at the nursery Bio gardens

At the Bio jardins nursery (located in Brittany), the plants arrive without leaves or roots. They are then acclimatized and cultivated in local soil, before being sold to gardens in the region. Their breeding in nurseries allows them to avoid a difficult and sometimes fatal 'expatriation', when they will have to face shade, humidity, higher rainfall, and a specific soil (the Breton soil) other than the universal one.

The duration of acclimatization

The acclamation of palms requires a rotation of crops. It is important to know that when a palm tree arrives at the nursery, it is cultivated for two years (or even two and a half years) before being marketed, the time to produce roots and leaves, but also to harden up by facing several Breton winters and the climatic hazards that characterize it.

It is therefore important for the nursery to have a large number of palms (1,000) at different stages of cultivation, in order to have a permanent supply of trees for sale.

The hardiness of palms is acquired through acclimatization

Acclimatized palms are of interest to a varied public (communities, professionals and individuals) who have generally experienced several growing failures with palms from the Mediterranean region. The reason for this is simple: they are not used to the cold. Even if some palms have a theoretical hardiness of -18 to -21°C, they will not be able to withstand winters at -10°C if they have been raised in regions where temperatures never fall below 0°C.

The multiplication of palm trees

Palms are among those plants whose propagation is not the easiest. Many parameters must be taken into account to succeed in this operation.

The various methods of propagation

Sowing seeds remains the most common method. In palms, the size, shape and color of seeds vary considerably from one species to another. For example, a Sabal minor seed will only measure a few millimeters while a coconut (Cocos nucifera) will be much larger!

In addition to sowing, other methods are possible on the species producing offshoots.

Some of them produce shoots at their feet, it is then easy to take them, others of the seedlings directly on the stipe, which it will be then necessary to marcotter.

In the horticultural industry, palms are multiplied by cloning but we will not go into the details of this technique reserved for professionals.

Sowing

This is the method most appreciated by palm growers, which is why we will detail it here.

The amateurs are sometimes put in failure by the non respect of certain parameters which we will learn to know better in order to control them:

The viability of seeds

The viability, that is to say the capacity of a seed to germinate in a given time, depends not only on the species (from a few weeks for the Latiana to several years for the Phoenix canariensis or the Cocos nucifera), but also on the conservation of these.

Palms growing in tropical areas need heat, the same applies to their seeds which should be kept at adequate temperatures (minimum 20°C). The rate of hygrometry is also important; if the seed dries too much, it will lose its germinative power.

Treatment before sowing

A specific treatment can also be necessary to induce a good germination. Thus, a few days in the refrigerator's crisper can be beneficial for species originating from temperate regions with a marked cold season. Others will have to be soaked 48h before sowing, others still will have to be well brushed and washed to remove the germination inhibiting substance present in their flesh!

Temperature, hygrometry, substrate, luminosity and patience: the keys to success

At the time of the sowing inform you well on the needs for each species because the temperature necessary for germination can vary. For Trachycarpus, a temperature of 20 to 24°C will be sufficient whereas Elaeis guinensis, the oil palm tree will need 38 to 40°C constant and this during a very long period (2 months and half) to germinate correctly. The installation must therefore be up to the task!

The composition of the substrate, the light and the hygrometry rate are other parameters to take into account. Always very light, the substrate will have to be very permeable so that water does not stagnate around the seed. The depth of the pot must also be chosen according to the species because some palms like Lodoicea maldavica have a so-called 'delayed germination'. A long root forms (sometimes for almost a meter) before the bud appears. Don't panic though: these cases are rare and our good old Phoenix will be satisfied with a depth of 2 cm!

After that, everything will be a story of patience because palm trees at the seedling stage are rather long to grow. Don't forget to water them regularly!