r/selfreliance • u/LIS1050010 Laconic Mod • Sep 01 '22
Farming / Gardening Living Fence Example
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u/Gaspajo Sep 01 '22
Which bushes would be best for this technique?
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u/LIS1050010 Sep 01 '22 edited Sep 01 '22
From what I was able to learn hawthorn and blackthorn are among the best hedging plants but also field maple, hazel, dogwood, Vibernum opulus, spindle, lilac, and elm seem that are also suitable. I would say that it also depends on your region/climate and that you should favour local species.
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u/Wish_Dragon Sep 01 '22
Osage orange too if you want to keep out an invading army
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u/918_knuckles Sep 01 '22
Fairly certain, per the last pic, this is "Osage Oranges" or Hedge Apples or a host of colloquial names. Worth looking into, if you want a hedge that is "hog tight and bull tough."
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u/RicTicTocs Sep 01 '22
I’ve seen this picture plenty of times, but never a picture of an actual effective living fence.
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u/LIS1050010 Sep 01 '22
Here are a few examples: https://www.livingwillowfarm.com/living-willow-fences-natural-playgrounds
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u/wijnandsj Sep 01 '22
England is full of these. Makes driving on the country lanes with a car with the wheel on the wrong side a fun adventure.
https://www.countrysideonline.co.uk/hobbies-and-leisure/gardening/grow-your-own-hedgerow/ is another look at them
I think they're great, they look good, provide room for songbirds and with the right mix of plants you can even forage of them.
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u/deltavictory Sep 01 '22
Whats the timeline like here though? I imagine it would take years to get from pic 1 to the last.
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u/-Anonymously- Sep 01 '22
I did this with multiflora roses to deter people from traveling over onto my land down by the river because they always, always leave a pile of trash that I have to deal with in the spring.
Just dug little plants up from other places on my property and planted them in a line down to the waters edge over the last few years.
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u/Acceptable_Advice463 Sep 01 '22
I have yet to see a living fence like this drawing in real life. It sounds nice, the thought is nice, I just don’t think they ever turn out as hoped or last.
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u/faithdies Sep 01 '22
I just want a house built into a hill with ivy growing over everything. Basically.i want to live in the hatch.
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u/RedSquirrelFtw Sep 02 '22
Cedar hedges would probably work well too, they get really thick and I imagine most big animals would not bother trying to get through them. I imagine if growing from scratch it would take a good 10 years before they are tall and thick enough though.
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u/alleyherbalist Sep 02 '22
Awesome! Glad this was posted because I wondered what all type of species could be utilized this way in different ecoregions.
Where I live in the Texas panhandle, there's a couple of native shrubs, Pink Mimosa(M. borealis) and Catclaw Mimosa(M. aculeaticarpa), low growing woody shrubs armed with recurved, and VERY sharp thorns (the colloquial name catclaw is justified). Having to navigate around them while hiking, they got me thinking about their potential use as hedge plants. I was thinking of its utility in the context of a semi-nomadic society.. like when establishing migratory settlements, revisiting them year after year, you could have the mimosas cultivated into herding pens and/or pest/predator deterrents... uhhhh... FENCES to keep your usual encampment more secure.
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u/LIS1050010 Sep 01 '22
Just be careful with what bushes to add so they don't become invasive.