Part IV - Living Walls - Borders & Hedges: Yews and Hemlocks: best hedge

» Marge_Talt - best hedge

Hi Mike, Welcome to Gardening in Shade!

Well, did a look up and you are in USDA zone 5, minimum temperatures:-20 to -10°F (-29 to -23°C), according to the zip code for your city. Your particular property may (and probably does) have microclimates that could vary a zone colder or warmer.

Think we need to chat a bit about your property. How large an area are you wanting to hedge? I know you said 200 lineal feet, but how deep is the yard/garden between the proposed hedge site and your house?

Do you know what kind of soil you have? Is it clay, sandy, rocky, poor, dry, wet? Does it drain well?

You say you are at a higher elevation than surrounding houses - does this mean you get a lot of wind whistling through?

Have a lot of questions:-)

Are there any existing trees on your site?

If you are above your neighbors, do you really want to surround your property with a solid 15' high wall of the same plant? It seems to me that all you would really require for privacy is something about 6 or 8' tall...you're neighbors would be looking up 16 or 18 feet to the top of it, if they are 10 feet lower than you are.

Is there a particular reason you want a solid hedge as opposed to a mixed tree and shrub border?

Tell us more and we'll see what we can come up with for you.

Actually, wrote this reply 2 days ago, but have not been able to get on the Suite since:-) Glad to be able to get back here.

-- posted by Marge_Talt