Useful hedge for a suburban area

A good alternative to a fence in some situations is a hedge. A mixborder, a green lawn of a mown lawn and any flower arrangement look natural against its background. If you need to create a protective fence around the site, thorny shrubs planted in a row will cope with the task no worse than a high deaf fence.

But a hedge will have the added benefit of planting healthy plants that yield fruits with a high content of vitamins or have medicinal properties.

Rosehip

Rosehip seedlings are planted at a distance of 80 cm, grow rapidly and form a solid barbed wall, through which it is almost impossible to get through. It is even difficult to pick berries from it with unprotected hands so as not to get hurt. The shrub is undemanding to growing conditions, resistant to drought and low temperatures.

During the flowering period (May - June), a strong pleasant aroma emanating from large pink rose hips fills the entire area. The fruits fully ripen by mid-autumn, and then they are harvested. Berries are rich in ascorbic acid and vitamins, are used to make drinks that increase immunity, or simply added to tea.

Hawthorn

There are many types of hawthorn: common, Siberian, soft, green-meat and others. In shape, it can be a tree or shrub of various habit. Despite such a variety, all hawthorns perfectly tolerate a haircut, therefore they are often used to create hedges.

The presence of flavonoids and glycosides in fruits and flowers determined its field of application in folk medicine. From them, infusions are prepared for the treatment of hypertension, arrhythmias and other cardiovascular diseases. Flowers are harvested at the end of May in a semi-open state, and fruits in October when fully ripe. The collected raw materials are dried in a ventilated area, avoiding sunlight.

Elderberry black

Oversized bushes take up a lot of space, so you can create an elderberry hedge only on a fairly large area. Leaves and corymbose inflorescences, consisting of many small flowers, are also quite large. The plant itself is very unpretentious, and some species are aggressive and capable of displacing all vegetation within their crown.

Elderberry is known as a cough remedy and is used for laryngitis, sore throat, bronchitis. Decoctions are made from dried flowers and berries for gargling. They are also included in the collection of medicinal teas that accelerate the flow of phlegm when coughing. From freshly picked flowers, flower honey is prepared, which is used as a sweetness.

Rowan

Most often, mountain ash is a tree plant, but a shrub is also found. If a hedge is made of mountain ash trees, during the first 2 to 3 years of growth, they are constantly pruned. When a lush crown is formed, only sanitary pruning is carried out. The leaves are pinnately complex, beautiful, giving the plant some decorative effect. In the fall, the foliage turns yellow, which makes the hedge look very picturesque.

Rowan bunches with red-orange berries are effective until late autumn and even in winter. The fruits can be harvested after frost when they lose their bitterness and astringency. They are used as a general tonic and antitussive agent, as well as to increase hemoglobin in the blood.

Viburnum

The shrub, growing up to 2.5 m, has good frost resistance, grows in sunny areas and in light shade. Viburnum loves moist soil and develops well near water bodies. It blooms in May with umbrella inflorescences of an unusual structure: along its outer edge there are individual flowers that are larger than the middle ones. Traditionally, viburnum flowers are white, and only in some varieties are pink.

In folk medicine, fully ripe berries are most often used. They are dried, ground with honey (sugar), or simply hung in bunches in a cool room. They are used for the preparation of vitamin drinks that strengthen the immune system, with high blood pressure and colds.

In a free-growing hedge, you can mix shrubs, growing nearby rowan and elderberry, dog rose and viburnum, as well as other plants with useful fruits: honeysuckle, irgu, chokeberry. In winter, they are useful not only for treatment, but also as an aromatic additive to tea.