To most, this might look like a green wall of general vegetation, not a natural fence to a small garden. The hedgerow planting runs north to south along the east wall of this high use seasonal kitchen garden. Plantings include cultivars mixed with native plantings that need added protection. Within this well set wall of green you will find Pacific Crabapple, twin berry, Nootka Rose, mint, day lily. buckwheat and more. The livestock love browsing this hedge too- and it makes a great snack bar for the animals without letting them into my vegetable patch. Natural fencing has been around for centuries. Setting hedges to keep animal out- or in, remains a tradition around the world. From stacked stone to dead hedges of spiny acacia branches, humans have built walls, but growing them, while weaving the branches into each other as the wall establishes, gives boundary with food, medicine, and materials built in. There is maintenance required to maintain a hedge, but if you have browsing livestock- like Katahdin sheep, and a good pair of shears for cutting small branches, you can tend a small hedge with minimal effort.
Another important aspect of hedges, habitat, offers small creatures of the clearing a place to nest, seek shelter, and build community. Lady bugs, juncos, and bumble bees all clamor in the hedges. These walls of living biodiversity offer greater support to the garden inside. Pollinator species are well established, birds glean pest bugs all around, and many plants grow where an otherwise stagnant fence would stand. It’s important to remember the nesting season in the hedges, and avoid trimming and harvesting during these more sensitive times. I have found letting the sheep brows the hedge during nesting season, in the spring, does not disrupt the birds. Letting flowers bloom and fruit is also part of the timing with hedges- that’s why it’s best to cut them back every few years, or in the case of a small kitchen garden hedge, weave the longer branches back into the lower hedge to thicken the structure and prevent overshadowing of the garden. Birds love nesting in a thick hedge for protection.
It’s Spring, 2025, and I’m about to shape this small hedge before too many blossoms open up. The taller branches are just starting to overtake the edge of the garden, so I’ll bend them over to reinforce sideways growth while thickening the wall. I’ve found that reburying some of the lower branches will re-root some species- the crabapple does so in this hedge. Without cutting anything, I manage to tuck the hedge back in on its self. In time, some parts die and snap off, building carbon in the soil below. I’ve been using this technique with this small garden hedge for almost a decade. It’s thriving and hosting a variety of wildlife while keeping the garden safe from deer and sheep. This action is also mimicking the effect of another large herbivore not around this ridge-yet. Elk would come crashing through the understory, browsing down brush and shoving over smaller understory trees like the crabapple with their large antlers during the rut. For now, my hands do the work of keeping the hedge down while enjoying a kitchen garden.
EEC Forest Stewardship 