We all love fences but it requires proper care and management to look beautiful in every season. There are many hedge plants that are being used for the beautification of your fences. Let’s discuss it. A continuous screen of shrubs or plants planted at regular intervals to form is known as a hedge. A garden hedge can provide shelter from strong winds, protect privacy, and builds a background screen for a flower garden, etc. Monsoon is a good time to start a new hedge by planting seeds or cuttings.
Best Hedge Plants for Fence:
Below are some Hedge Plants for the decoration of fencing:
1. Euphorbia Antiquorum (Tridhara):
In India, it is the most common spiny succulent shrub grown along the fence line of farmlands. Due to its look, this plant is often misidentified as a cactus. After successful establishment, it makes a tall, protective hedge and reaches up to 3 meters high.
2. Clerodendrum Inermis (Vilayti Mehendi):
For ornamental and protective hedging, this shrub is the most suitable one. Its leaves are attractive and polished green. It is drought-resistant, has a hard surface, stands trimming very well, and does not harbor snakes and other reptiles because its leaves have an offensive odor. It takes about 2 years to form into a good hedge.
3. Carissa Carandas (Karonda):
It is a thorny bushy shrub that is used as an effective protective hedge. Moreover, this plant produces delightful fruits in summer which are cherished across all states in India. Its seeds are sown 60-75 cm apart in single rows. Stem cuttings also root easily in the monsoon season.
4. Pedilanthus Tithymaloides (Devils backbone):
This spineless & leafless succulent belonging to the spurge family is most commonly used as an ornamental hedge. It is a very hardy plant that forms a thick live fence in a real quick time. Stem cuttings of this plant are planted 10-15 cm apart in double rows spaced 15 cm from each other.
5. Duranta Erecta:
It is a large, fast-growing, multi-stemmed shrub and is famous as a screen, background planting, and live hedge. Its pale blue flowers attract butterflies in summer and are followed by bunches of golden-orange berries, popular with birds. Its variegated or golden yellow varieties look very ornamental.
6. Bougainvillea Spectabilis:
Various varieties of this plant form right protective as well as ornamental hedges capable of withstanding frequent trimming. Planting is generally done at 60 to 90 cm spacing, and the plants are trained against the barbed wire of a fence. Stems along with side shoots are trimmed to create a bushy appearance. Without support, these plants can also be prepared as a live fence, but the supported hedge of Bougainvillea looks better.
7. Jatropha curcas (Mogli Erand, Biodiesel):
Jatropha is considered a poisonous shrub and its height are up to 5 m. It is an uncultivated non-food wild species which have been naturalized in India. It is generally used as a living fence to safeguard gardens and fields from animals as no livestock feeds on its leaves.
Moreover, there are many more plants that can be used for hedging, for instance; Palms, Murraya paniculata (Kamini, Kunti), Lawsonia inermis (Henna, Mehendi), Acalypha, Caesalpinia, Aralia, Eranthemum, Hamelia patens (Firebush), Lantana Tecoma, Cactus etc.
