Just for giggles I planted a couple of Elliot highbush blueberry bushes
to see how they did here in the NW Georgia mountains. While I planted
them too late to see if they bear good fruit here, I was amazed by the
brilliant fall color. Do these make good hedges? I Googled on it and
found some mention, but no pictures.


billo

On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 19:11:06 -0000, (Bill Oliver)
wrote:

Just for giggles I planted a couple of Elliot highbush blueberry bushes
to see how they did here in the NW Georgia mountains. While I planted
them too late to see if they bear good fruit here, I was amazed by the
brilliant fall color. Do these make good hedges? I Googled on it and
found some mention, but no pictures.


billo


There are many varieties and to have a good production a few different
varieties are recommended for good cross pollination. They grow best
when planted 8 feet apart. It takes a few years before you will get a
decent yield, and then you have to use bird netting if there is any
hope to bake a pie. There are better choices for a hedge. I've seen
several wild varieties (low bush) growing in the E. Tennessee
mountains.

In article , (Bill
Oliver) wrote:

Just for giggles I planted a couple of Elliot highbush blueberry bushes
to see how they did here in the NW Georgia mountains. While I planted
them too late to see if they bear good fruit here, I was amazed by the
brilliant fall color. Do these make good hedges? I Googled on it and
found some mention, but no pictures.

billo

They don't hedge well if you mean hedges cut square, but deciduous shrubs
of this sort can be pleasing "natural" hedges. Blueberries are not the
best year-round hedges because of looking merely twiggy in winter & for
needing periodic cutting back, so I'd prefer them in a mixed hedge which
includes things with better winter appearance. Highbush cranberries would
look more exciting in winter as they have an interesting woody structure
even after leaf-fall. But a blueberry hedge could be very pleasing three
seasons out of four, beautiful in flower, then large fruits, then those
amazing fall colors. To get the best fruit, by the way, takes at least
two cultivars; even the allegedly self-fertile blueberries fruit better
with a second cultivar nearby. I think the minimum ideal is five to seven
bushes encompassing three varieties.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

In article ,
paghat wrote:

They don't hedge well if you mean hedges cut square, but deciduous shrubs
of this sort can be pleasing "natural" hedges. Blueberries are not the
best year-round hedges because of looking merely twiggy in winter & for
needing periodic cutting back, so I'd prefer them in a mixed hedge which
includes things with better winter appearance. Highbush cranberries would
look more exciting in winter as they have an interesting woody structure
even after leaf-fall. But a blueberry hedge could be very pleasing three
seasons out of four, beautiful in flower, then large fruits, then those
amazing fall colors. To get the best fruit, by the way, takes at least
two cultivars; even the allegedly self-fertile blueberries fruit better
with a second cultivar nearby. I think the minimum ideal is five to seven
bushes encompassing three varieties.

-paghat the ratgirl



I would prefer a natural hedge -- I have heard they are more wildlife
friendly. I would be using this to separate a more formal part of
the garden near the house from a semi-wild woody area, and mostly
using it as a sight barrier. As it stands right now, our house has
a good amount of privacy because the land between us and most of
our neighbors is in woods and brush. It's the brush and vines rather
than the tall pines that provide the sight barrier, though.

I like the brush but...

It is completely impassable. Even the game trails are too small
for a human. I don't know how the deer do it. It is so thick
with vines, briars, these wacky half-vine-half tree things I haven't
identified yet, poison ivy, oak and sumac that I am denied most
of my yard (it's about 5 acres). And my wife can't come within
30 feet of poison ivy without breaking out, so she's afraid to
take a walk through the woods. My neighbor, who is slowly renovating
an antebellum victorian on the next knoll over has the same problem.
We don't even have a path between our houses (and in this part
of the south, it seems that not having a direct path to your
neighbors is almost as offputting as expecting them to come
to your front door).

The vines, etc. are strangling some of the trees I really like
that are growing there. There are a number of magnolia, dogwood,
redbud, and other very pretty trees that are losing the fight
for sunlight. Some of the undergrowth I really like -- ferns,
worts, passion flowers, wild iris, wild rose -- are strangled.

So, I have begun slowly pulling the vines from the trees, cutting
the briars, getting rid of whatever the hell it is not-quite-tree
that seems to cover 90 percent of the forest edge and vacant
lots around here.

That makes the ground more passable and I've saved a nice
magnolia and some kind of broad leaved holly I've never seen
before.

This is removing the sight barrier, though, and I suspect
I'm making the place much less habitable for the wild turkey
and deer in the area. So I figured that a series of strategically
placed natural hedges would help in both respects. It wouldn't
be too hard. The houses here are placed on little bumps and
knolls here in town, so the roads mostly look up to the houses,
and it should be easy to create a privacy shield.

Since the hedges will thus be in the woods and at the
edge of the more formal yard, they will not be squared off.
A height of 6-7 feet, which is what I read for blueberries
is good. I'm happy for the fruit to be eaten by birds, et.
al. (I have another plot in the backyard for our personal
harvesting).

So, with all that, what would you mix with the blueberries
in such a hedge?


billo

In article , (Bill
Oliver) wrote:

I would prefer a natural hedge -- I have heard they are more wildlife
friendly. I would be using this to separate a more formal part of
the garden near the house from a semi-wild woody area, and mostly
using it as a sight barrier. As it stands right now, our house has
a good amount of privacy because the land between us and most of
our neighbors is in woods and brush. It's the brush and vines rather
than the tall pines that provide the sight barrier, though.

I like the brush but...

It is completely impassable. Even the game trails are too small
for a human. I don't know how the deer do it. It is so thick
with vines, briars, these wacky half-vine-half tree things I haven't
identified yet, poison ivy, oak and sumac that I am denied most
of my yard (it's about 5 acres). And my wife can't come within
30 feet of poison ivy without breaking out, so she's afraid to
take a walk through the woods. My neighbor, who is slowly renovating
an antebellum victorian on the next knoll over has the same problem.
We don't even have a path between our houses (and in this part
of the south, it seems that not having a direct path to your
neighbors is almost as offputting as expecting them to come
to your front door).

The vines, etc. are strangling some of the trees I really like
that are growing there. There are a number of magnolia, dogwood,
redbud, and other very pretty trees that are losing the fight
for sunlight. Some of the undergrowth I really like -- ferns,
worts, passion flowers, wild iris, wild rose -- are strangled.

So, I have begun slowly pulling the vines from the trees, cutting
the briars, getting rid of whatever the hell it is not-quite-tree
that seems to cover 90 percent of the forest edge and vacant
lots around here.

That makes the ground more passable and I've saved a nice
magnolia and some kind of broad leaved holly I've never seen
before.

This is removing the sight barrier, though, and I suspect
I'm making the place much less habitable for the wild turkey
and deer in the area. So I figured that a series of strategically
placed natural hedges would help in both respects. It wouldn't
be too hard. The houses here are placed on little bumps and
knolls here in town, so the roads mostly look up to the houses,
and it should be easy to create a privacy shield.

Since the hedges will thus be in the woods and at the
edge of the more formal yard, they will not be squared off.
A height of 6-7 feet, which is what I read for blueberries
is good. I'm happy for the fruit to be eaten by birds, et.
al. (I have another plot in the backyard for our personal
harvesting).

So, with all that, what would you mix with the blueberries
in such a hedge?

There are so many things that could be mixed in, but if you're also after
harvestable fruit, I would add at least one serviceberry bush, & a couple
highbush cranberries.

Serviceberries (aka Juneberry) are really tasty & low-maintenance with
autumn color as great as Blueberry shrubs. They don't need to
cross-pollinate so one is often enough but if there's room enough more
than one species would look nice, though if there's only room for one,
Amalchier canadensis is probably the nicest. They'll out grow the
blueberries in height, ten feet or so reliably, & really old specimens in
the wild get bigger still. They flower gorgeously early spring before
leafing.

Highbush cranberries are only tasty after cooked, sieved, spiced &
sweetened, & are improved mixed with apples or sweeter berries. They're
among the most beautiful native shrubs, three species stand out: Viburnum
trilobum (the cultivated form 'Wentworth' has larger showier berries), V.
sargentiana ('Onandaga' has super-duper autumn color) & V. edule (the
Northwest native not as widely distributed in nurseries). The European
equivalent V. opulus is not as nice & the fruit tastes bitter even when it
is well prepared (& in Russia & Sweden where highbush cranberries are
major harvested fruits, the European species has been completely displaced
by North American varieties for fruit production).

Some other native shrubs great for a mixed hedges include Black Twinberry
(Lonicera involucrata var involucrata), not great on autumn color, but
reblooms throughout the year (small yellow dangling tubes in pairs) &
produces almost continuous pairs of large black berries set in big bright
purple bracts, so just a beautiful interesting shrub. Theoretically edible
but not tasty enough to be worth harvesting. Winter Honeysuckle is
semi-evergreen in temperate gardens, white extremely fragrant winter
flowers, followed by glassy salmon-pink berries, not edible.

Chokeberry is another bitter late-in-year fruit that makes good eating
after it is cooked, sieved, sweetened. The shrub stays to around 5 feet
high, very colorful in autumn, & the striking black fruits if not
harvested don't turn to raisens & drop until winter (birds leave them for
last; they're not quite so bitter after they've frozen a couple times).
Its spring flowers look like hawthorne flowers.

Indian plum aka Osoberry (Oemleria cerasiformis) can reach ten or fifteen
feet, a splendid native shrub with dangly white flowers & half-inch
crayon-blue fruits shaped like miniature Italian plums. I'm kind of
shocked it is not a common offering, but it's a native shrub specialty
item worth tracking down. The fruits are edible but not all that tasty, &
if eaten while still green would be toxic so would have to be absolutely
certain they're ripe before trying them. They're mainly for show, the tiny
too-blue plums are a real shock of beauty.

Since its a woodland edge maybe you'd have room for ALL of 'em. They're
all deciduous, except winter honeysuckle which is only deciduous at the
colder edge of its tolerances; they all have beautiful fruits most of them
edible (serviceberry the only one extremely tasty straight from the bush
though); they all have good autumn color except the twinberry & winter
honeysuckle. If there's something inside the woods that adapts, that can
add a nice element. I'm developing a garden for a client (I'll be helping
design a website for that garden next year, Shin Lur Garden which is
importing Chinese granite statuary), & the blueberry patch blends into a
natural stand of evergreen huckleberries. The woods behind the garden are
dominated by huckleberries, salal, & wild Rhododendron macrophyllums, some
of which we're leaving in the main gardens because these things can't be
improved upon. There are also some less dominant shrubs that have been
crowded out by the aggressive salal, so we're digging out the struggling
mahonias to give better locations where they can thrive without salal
displacing them. Most parts of the country have one or another vaccininium
growing wild, & even if the dominant shrubs aren't exciting, if you look
closer you may find some fruiting vaccininium worth encouraging by getting
the weedier aggressive stuff away from it.

For something extremely sweet & wonderful earlier in the year, a
thornless hybrid loganberry is hard to beat, they're like rasberries on
steroids for the fruits, & the canes are not as unmananageable as most
rubus spieces though they do need managing. Even just one bush can produce
like mad, then needs to be pruned back.

If you wanted something fully evergreen standing nice & erect amidst all
the deciduous things, most of the mahonias (oregon grapes) are worth
considering, & the Japanese mahonia cultivar lately available called
"Charity" stands straight up tall & erect so would not be so easily lost
amidst an array of bushier bushes. They have bright-bright-bright-yellow
extremely showy winter flowers; edible blue berries; & 'Charity' in colder
winters turns bright red & orange then back to green in spring without
dropping the leaves (this trait does not show everwhere, as without a good
hard chill it just stays green). The native Mahonia aquifolium is also a
striking shrub with bright-bright yellow winter flowers & very tasty
fruits & entirely evergreen; it'll tolerate the worst spots such as in dry
shade but only very fruitful if cared for a bit.

A semi-wild mixed hedge of this sort is really one of the finest things
imaginable & as a bonus most of these need little maintenance. The
blueberries will be the highest maintenance since to produce good fruit
they need regular watering & annual pruning, & even they're easy. If
fruit weren't an essential feature there's much else that could be grown
for flowers; abelia & escalonia for examples look rather like deciduous
shrubs but are flowering evergreens. But you're quite right that the
fruiting deciduous shrubs attract wildlife (which, if you wanted the
blueberries & serviceberries for yourself, can be a little annoying. We
will be placing a large net over the blueberries just long enough to
harvest the fruits ourselves. Otherwise the birds will wait until the
premium fruits -- blueberry, seriviceberry, or oregon grape -- have
reached their peak of perfection, then clean the bushes of them one hour
before you show up with bucket in hand. They'll be less on top of getting
all the chokeberries & highbush cranberries).

-paggers

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

I haven't grown any yet, but I place a lot of trust in the writing of the
late Henry Mitchell. He said two things: First, you can be sure that if
someone doesn't like blueberries, they're crazy. And more important, he said
there was nothing to NOT like about the bushes themselves. Very handsome
leaves. I'll be planting a several, or maybe a thousand of them this spring.

"Bill Oliver" wrote in message
...
Just for giggles I planted a couple of Elliot highbush blueberry bushes
to see how they did here in the NW Georgia mountains. While I planted
them too late to see if they bear good fruit here, I was amazed by the
brilliant fall color. Do these make good hedges? I Googled on it and
found some mention, but no pictures.


billo

In article ,
paghat wrote:

There are so many things that could be mixed in, but if you're also after
harvestable fruit, I would add at least one serviceberry bush, & a couple
highbush cranberries.

...


Great information. Thanks!

billo

In article ,
Doug Kanter wrote:
I'll be planting a several, or maybe a thousand of them this spring.



A thousand? That's a lot of cobbler.

billo

"Bill Oliver" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Doug Kanter wrote:
I'll be planting a several, or maybe a thousand of them this spring.



A thousand? That's a lot of cobbler.

billo

I figure the birds & deer will get most of it, and I'll end up with what I
normally buy at the store each year: about 15 pints. :-)