For screening, securing, hiding, or emphasizing an area, there is nothing quite like a living hedge to do the job. Hedges have to be worked on regularly to be a success when used for any of these purposes. In Guyana there is an ideal climate and growth can be rapid for most of the time. So much so that it may be necessary to cut hedges several times a year to keep them in bounds.
Problems: Hedges can restrict light and the beneficial flow of air to dry out the lawn, and vigorous hedges may take up a lot of food from the surrounding area. They may also require you to put in some work to keep up top standard.
Benefits include protection from strong breezes, especially salt laden sea breezes; from grazing animals; and from the gaze of neighbours and passing traffic. Hedges will provide cover for nesting birds and other forms of wildlife threatened by modern agriculture, and enclose and emphasize a particularly good feature you have in the garden as well as hide any eyesores. Certain kinds of hedge will give protection from some of the undesirable two-legged animals who cause so much strife in our society. Last but by no means least, is the fact that hedges can give the most tremendous pleasure in terms of flowers and foliage.
Planting in Guyana can be done throughout the year. Not of course when it’s pouring with rain or when the ground is flooded – but at any other time. All you need to do is to prepare the ground properly, choose the right plants, plant them carefully and take care to maintain them properly. This will include keeping them trimmed and if necessary propagating from them in order to fill in spaces which have appeared.
Preparation of the ground for the hedge is best done by digging out a narrow trench, putting compost into the base and forking it in. The soil is then returned and allowed to settle for a few days. After this you can carry on putting in the plants using a trowel or a spade. A good foundation pays dividends. The lazy way to go about this work is not to bother with a trench, but to mark out where each plant is to go and then just take out a hole at each spot, putting compost at the base of each hole and then carefully planting and firming. Don’t forget to water each plant before you put it into the ground, and make sure that you water regularly after planting if you are in a dry spell.
It is a good thing to apply a small amount of a balanced granular fertilizer along the line of the hedge to help it establish, and to keep it growing. In my experience it is a good practice to prune newly planted hedges at an early stage, cutting down shoots to about six inches from the ground. This prevents loss of water during the period the plants are establishing themselves, but mainly to encourage new shoots to grow out from the base of the plants and give you a dense cover from ground level. Mature hedges should be kept narrower at the top otherwise they have a tendency to shade the lower parts which may become bare and unsightly. Invigorate old hedges by pruning severely. Don’t be afraid. You can use thicker wood for cuttings.
What plants? The list could be enormous. The Yucca, Agave, Euphorbia and various cacti are all very good barrier plants. So for that matter is the bougainvillea, which has some very fine varieties with strong spines. Some beautiful plants for hedging include Acalypha wilkesiana and a variety called ‘Java White,’ and many of the more common type of hibiscus, but not the hybrid forms. Look around as you travel through the city and countryside. You’ll be inspired by the range of plants used for hedging.
Until next week may your God go with you wherever you may be.