Do you ever feel the need to protect the privacy of your home from unwelcome gazes? You don’t need to spend heavily on constructing a wall or a fence to prevent these stares. Grow some fast-growing hedges which will act as a dense screen to block any unwanted attention. Additionally, colourful foliage and attractive flowers of these plants add to the visual appeal of your home.
Some of the commonly grown hedging and screening plants do not need much nurturing and grow quick and thick. You need to trim and clip these plants as per your creativity to give your home and lawn a classy and unique look.
Red Robin: The hardy shrub Red Robin, if left unpruned, can grow to a height of up to 12 feet making it a colourful screen. Pruned, these act as bright hedges with dense foliage of bright green and new red leaves.
Conifers: Another landscaper’s delight, conifers serve many purposes. From trees that can be used to line the cobblestoned pavement, or as screens to guard privacy to round-shaped or even ground-level plants to add to the overall ambience, conifers come in many shapes and sizes. This almost evergreen, hardy plant with shapely foliage and a fragrance of its own is a gardener’s ultimate hedging and screening plant.
Japanese Box: Among the slow-growing boxwood shrubs, Japanese Box has a faster growth. Best suited for small hedging, these shrubs with glossy leaves are low on maintenance and preferred for topiary.
Orange Jasmine: This hedge shrub with its glossy leaves and aromatic flowers, though ornamental, can be grown as an effective way to create colour and fragrance.
Dwarf Lilly Pilly: An classic shrub with dense and colourful foliage and attractive flowers have edible fruits and are Ideal for hedging and topiary too.
Evergreen hedges and screens, in addition to shielding from unwelcome stares, also act as perfect sound barriers preventing the force of howling winds and protecting against snow ( to a lesser extent.)
As per your requirement, decide the type of tree or shrub you plan to grow. Consider the availability of space while deciding on the number of rows (the more the number of rows, the denser the growth) you would like to grow.
Trees can be left alone to grow as screens. Shrubs will have to be trained after a few seasons to give the desired shape and look. Well-pruned hedges can add a charming mystery to your home.
