Boundaries, borders and shelter are essential parts of any garden, but they can be the most difficult to get right. The excitement of buying new hedging plants can quickly be overtaken by difficult upkeep, damage to surrounding plants and a costly waste of time. Whether you're planting a new hedge from scratch, restoring a neglected one or creating softer internal divides within the garden, this book provides the planning, planting and maintenance know-how to do it right, first time. Coverage includes: assessment, preparation and design advice for establishing a new living boundary; advice on dealing with existing boundaries in need of restoration or extension; considerations to take into account for both your human and wildlife neighbours and finally, there are directories of hedging plants, climbers and trees to aid your selection.

Whether to block an unsightly view or provide privacy, graceful screens of plants are a natural alternative to manmade fences. This illustrated guide provides the information needed to select, plant, and maintain hedges, vines and espaliers--more than 100 species in all--by one of North America's most acclaimed garden writers.

A practical, ordinary person's guide to choosing, planting, and caring for the world's most popular plants, Shrubs & Hedges delivers all the know-how you'll need to grow beautiful, healthy shrubs. Whether they're flowering shrubs or evergreen hedges, these long-lived plants fill a lot of space in our landscapes; yet they don't capture as much attention as perennials, annuals, and even trees. The front doors and picture windows of millions of houses world-wide are adorned by shrubs. Despite their ubiquity, selecting and maintaining shrubs remains a mystery to many. Shrubs are all-too-often inappropriately pruned into "meatball" shapes, or alternatively, left to become an overgrown tangle of branches. But as you'll discover in the pages of Shrubs & Hedges, when cared for properly, these workhorse plants have much to offer. They mask foundations, delineate property lines, increase privacy, stabilize soils, provide food for wildlife, and add beauty and interest to the landscape. It’s time for shrubs to take center stage. Shrubs & Hedges eliminates the ambiguities of shrub selection and care by offering: Advice on how to pick the best shrubs for your growing conditions Plant profiles of both dependable classic shrubs and new rising stars Step-by-step propagation instructions for making more shrubs—for free! Shrub identification tips A lesson on the value of hedges and hedgerows The best shrubs for pollinators and other wildlife Pruning illustrations and tips to maximize shrub performance and health Tips for designing with shrubs Drawing on her decades of experience in the plant-care and landscape industries, author and horticulture educator Eva Monheim proves you don’t have to be a “gardener” to see the value in this extensive group of plants.

In recent years there has been a much greater appreciation of the enormous contribution that hedges make to the countryside. Today, their beauty, their ability to provide wind protection and contain livestock, their environmental importance and their significance as a wildlife habitat, are all widely recognized. Not surprisingly, this transformation in the way we view hedges has, in turn, produced a welcome revival in the ancient craft of hedgelaying. Whether you own hedges, are thinking of growing them, or just have an interest in hedgerows, this fascinating, well-illustrated book will be of value to you. Hedges and Hedgelaying - A Guide to Planting, Management and Conservation contains of wealth of practical information and covers: the selection of hedgerow shrubs and trees and the associated significance of soil types and topography; the planting of hedges and the necessary preparation work; the use of trees in the hedgerow and the value of field margins; weed, pest and disease control, and hedge cutting, maintenance and protection; the craft of hedgelaying and the tools and processes involved. Well illustrated with nearly 200 drawings and photographs, this is an indispensable guide for all those interested in managing and preserving our hedgerows for future generations.

Provides a thorough grounding in basic garden landscaping skills and offers a range of projects to show how to put them into practice. For both experienced and novice do-it-yourselfers, this book covers a wide range of different garden boundaries: trellises, walls, fences, gates, screens, living boundaries, hedges, and entrances. With twenty stylish and varied projects, this book suits all tastes and budgets, and enables you to create boundaries that you can enjoy for years to come. The specially commissioned photography and step-by-step text make this book both inspiring and easy to use.--From publisher description.

This creative and informative book explores the ways in which barriers can be used to add style and character to the garden. The first half of the book looks at boundary choices, from traditional fences, walls, hedges, trellises and railings, to screens and natural boundaries. The second section of the book looks at the finishing effects that can be applied to off-the-peg or existing boundaries to customize them with your personal style, add a decorative theme, or blend them in with the property and its surroundings.