The hedges in the garden

Choose the shrub for hedges

The hedge Italy's most famous is the one quoted by Giacomo Leopardi in the poem Infinity and that in the imagination of the great poet, was a limit to be overcome with the look.
In fact, in the garden architecture and landscape, one of the main functions of the hedges is precisely to establish a green and lively visual barrier.

The hedges are also a good decorative element, particularly when they are pruned in geometric shapes, as in the Italian gardens.
They are an excellent natural windbreak and finally it is is not to overlook their contribution to the balance of nature and biodiversity, as protected habitat for several species of insects and small birds.


But the hedge is perhaps the choice of green furniture more expensive and that requires a certain time to achieve optimal growth, therefore, its inclusion outdoors must be planned in good time and with due care.
It is always best to buy the best type of shrub that you can afford.

In fact, the cheapest variety, such as the privet and the honeysuckle, form a loose hedge that needs to be cut several times in a year.
The yew, however, form a dense hedge that is enough to prune once a year.

The yew is however a very slow-growing plant, which reaches the optimum size within 5 years.
On the other hand, fast-growing plants such as Leylandii, continue to grow even over the desired dimensions, for which is required a constant pruning

How to plant the hedges

The hedges are not obviously planted at random: their placement, length and appearance must be carefully planned in harmony with the space available, the architecture of the house, the need of sunlight of other plants and also with the rules of good neighborliness.

The hedges are planted in late autumn or early winter, before the ground gets too wet, respecting the depth that the plants had in pots.

Since once planted the hedge will remain for years, you need to carefully prepare the soil and spade it, down quite deep.

You must remove all perennial weeds and add organic material to the soil. Given that to draw the line of the hedge it is necessary to dig a trench, to avoid it fills of water, it is necessary to ensure good drainage.
At this point it must be stretched a rope, in order to ensure that the fence is straight. The bushes are to be planted, spacing between them of about 30 cm.

To form a line more dense and strong, you can plant a double row of bushes. The rows should be spaced of 35 cm and the plants are to be staggered, placing them at 45 cm from each other.

After the plant is necessary to shorten the plants at about the half. The side shoots should be chamfered in order to thicken the shrubs.

Appropriate treatment for hedges

A hedge must be kept healthy and viable over time.
This are not operations that require strenuous care but you need to be consistent, to prevent the hedge to take a neglected look.


Absolutely do not forget to:
- Remove all the waste material from the base of the hedge, to prevent the weeds from growing. If that happened, they would remove the light to lower branches, causing them to die and forming ugly gaps.

- Ensure the necessary nourishment to the hedge, and then do the mulching with compost or other organic material, thus maintaining also the right amount of moisture needed.

Pruning hedges

Let us remember that the hedges, even if you leave the natural state, are periodically to be pruned, not only to keep the desired sizes but also to stimulate the growth of new shoots.

If you want to do it yourself, you need to get a quality equipment and get ready to do some hard work, but rewarded by a great satisfaction: a well-trimmed hedge makes the garden nice and cozy.

Pruning must be carried out with a certain frequency, so as to keep the hedge tidy.
It is preferable to start from the bottom upwards, so that the residues of the cut falling away.

- The hedge should be wider at the base and narrower at the top. In this way it facilitates the penetration of the light, and prevents the weight of snow to damage the shrubs.

- Hedges with small leaves, such as the yew, should be pruned with scissors for hedges or hedge trimmer motor. To take a particular form, instead, you should use the shears which allow to control the fine cut.

- For plants with broad leaves, like the bay, it is instead better to use the shears. In fact, the scissors tend to cut the leaves in half, making the profile of the hedge irregular and disorderly.

The informal hedge

An informal hedge can be a very pleasant.

To achieve it you should use to bush loose plants, like roses and barberry that, besides being prickly, and thereby constitute an effective barrier, are also flowering and therefore very attractive to look at.

To achieve this effect, it is advisable to plant the bushes quite close together.

Avoid pruning too frequently to ensure that they have the natural look you want.

The colorful hedge

A monochrome hedge have the ideal backdrop where to place the other plants but also a colorful hedge can be very beautiful.

An example can be achieved by planting bushes alternate with red copper common beech leaves.

To obtain shades lighter in color, however, you can choose the yew or privet bushes, with green leaves and yellow gold.
Wonderful is the Photinia Red Robin here in the picture, a brilliant ruby red.

Irrigation of hedges

Like all other plants, hedges require regular watering and to this end, the simplest and most effective solution is represented by a perforated pipe that runs along the base of the plants, connected to a water supply.

Claber offers different products, all with low consumption of water:
- Triplehole tube
- The dripping pipe
- The porous tube


The first is equipped with micro-holes on one side; the second of interior drippers, arranged at intervals of 33cm and proposed in a version with a diameter of ¼", with drippers of 1.2 liters/ hour, or in larger version ½", with drippers of 2 liters/ hour.

The porous tube, again in versions ¼" and ½", has instead the surface consisting of a labyrinth of capillaries through which disperses the water slowly and in addition to being simply resting on the ground, you may also be planted without problems of frost winter, thanks to its continuous drainage.

Scheduled watering hedges: where to go

Irrigation of the hedge can be managed by an electronic programmer that allows you to choose the best time, early in the morning or in the evening, determining with absolute precision the amount of water to be administered.

Besides saving water, time and effort, you can save even in economic terms, by purchasing a single two-way programmer can manage independently the irrigation of the hedge and the lawn or a flower bed.


Claber is also at the forefront in this field, with Aquadue Duplo®, a great sales and public.
The programming is done on two ways with only three buttons and a large display with interactive pages.

You can program three irrigations a day for each line, with run times from one minute to 23 hours and 59 minutes and exclude individual days of the week. We are talking about a highly versatile product!

No wiring nor dedicated hydraulic system: Aquadue Duplo® is screwed simply to the tap and operates with a single 9V alkaline battery.

The only care is to remember, at the end of summer, to put the programmer in a place sheltered from frost and to remove the battery, throwing only and exclusively in a container for recycling: a small gesture that helps the environment.

Aquadue Duplo® can be connected to a useful device, always proposed by Claber for irrigation even more balanced and sustainable: Rain Sensor.

It is a rain sensor that stops the irrigation program in the event of natural rainfall, and then resume it when the good weather returns.
It also has a tip to avoid that the operation can be disturbed by leaves or birds on the sensor: Claber thinks of everything!

The products of the Masters of Water are in fact the result of an innovative research and rigorous testing to ensure a total quality 100%: also as regards the irrigation of hedges, of all types and sizes, in any garden.

For more information:
www.claber.com
Via Pontebbana, 22 Fiume Veneto (PN)
Tel: +39 0434 958836
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