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Post by johno on Oct 3, 2010 10:39:18 GMT -5
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Post by ozarklady on Oct 3, 2010 13:15:34 GMT -5
Wow!
Thanks John, I have been researching hedgerows, and this is one that I somehow missed!
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Post by castanea on Oct 3, 2010 20:43:48 GMT -5
Thanks, I have always had the plan to plant osage orange for a fence when I get a big piece of property but never knew the best way to do it. I saw a mature osage orange fence years ago and it was awesome. Coyotes and raccoons could get through but nothing bigger.
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Post by grunt on Oct 4, 2010 1:35:51 GMT -5
You can make a living hedge out of just about anything that has reasonably vigorouse growth, and is reasonably hardy. I'll try to remember to take some photos of my west "windbreak row". To date it has Italian Prune Plums, and cherries that came up as a result of dumping a bucket of pits, plus a couple of volunteer apples on one end. Original purpose was just to be a wind break, but then we had some local moo critters that are poorly fenced, so I upped it to living barrier by weaving some of the branches together horizontally (actually just winding them around each other and tying them in position for a year. Needs more work, but it will stop anything larger than a dog when finished.
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Post by synergy on Sept 28, 2014 12:08:28 GMT -5
I am giving hedges and pletching a good hard look now because fencing our 4 acres 20 years ago cost tens of thousands of dollars and I am sure that life of the fencing is only about another ten years. Then on my magical wish list this hedge would provide coppiced woodfuel for the home and healthy browse for livestock and yet still maintain some integrity as a fence ongoing and I am hopeful to try to propogate from cuttings or start plants in mass from seed . I am reluctant to do a hedge with anything that is toxic for our livestock and I am trying to find out if false varigated holly is toxic but I am thinking it might be for something like a goat that would not even blink at browsing something prickly. I was told the plant is Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Variegatus'. Putting cherries and plums into the hedging is at risk an animal will eat the wilting leaves as they fall in autumn. Things I was hoping would be a great privacy hedge plant like holly are toxic . I want something safe to browse , then again I don't want a goat to eat away all the hedging. SOmething like willow might make healthy browse that would be maintained in part by horse
So far the thing I have found is the honey locust maintained by pletching to make a solid fence ? Willow ? A mixture of plants is not out of the question either say hazelnut, willow, honey locust ? I have to say my mind is a bit boggled what might be workable and inexpensive and not kill me to maintain as I am aging and female pfft !
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 28, 2014 12:49:24 GMT -5
The "Osage Orange" (We call 'em Hedge around here.) mentioned in the article seems an ideal candidate to me. There's one in the field with my mother-in-law's cattle. Growing up there was one in the pasture with our cattle. I've never seen any harm come of it. They're thorny. Posts made from them last almost forever. Dad cut a bunch when I was too little to help much, beyond stacking brush. Two of them failed early, like within a few years. The rest are still in the ground, good as new. I'll be forty next summer. The article says they coppice well. I haven't tried it. It's an oily (or maybe resinous?) wood. You can burn it in a wood stove. Be careful, it burns a long time, but it burns hot. I melted a radio five or six feet from the stove. Either don't overload the stove, or mix it with other wood.
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Post by flowerweaver on Sept 28, 2014 14:00:38 GMT -5
I planted an Osage Orange about 14 years ago that was knee-high and now it's about chin-high. I live on rock in the land of little rain, so in proper soil with adequate moisture I'm sure you'd get better results. Another common name for the plant is Horse Apple, and equines will sometimes eat the fruit.
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 28, 2014 14:49:27 GMT -5
I planted an Osage Orange about 14 years ago that was knee-high and now it's about chin-high. I live on rock in the land of little rain, so in proper soil with adequate moisture I'm sure you'd get better results. Another common name for the plant is Horse Apple, and equines will sometimes eat the fruit. Also bois d' arc. Locally that's pronounced "bō dark". (I don't speak french, but I would have to wager that that's wrong.) There's a town by that name near here. I found out while researching these trees for living fence that it means wood of the bow. Apparently, it's strong and flexable, the best north american wood for bow making. I guess some folks prefer it over yew. |
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Post by flowerweaver on Sept 28, 2014 17:24:31 GMT -5
oldmobie it may also have to do with availability especially regarding Native peoples--native yew trees are mostly located on the west coast and Florida; the Osage Orange has a much wider range, just about everywhere in the US except the Rockies.
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Post by MikeH on Sept 28, 2014 19:37:37 GMT -5
I am giving hedges and pletching a good hard look now because fencing our 4 acres 20 years ago cost tens of thousands of dollars and I am sure that life of the fencing is only about another ten years. Then on my magical wish list this hedge would provide coppiced woodfuel for the home and healthy browse for livestock and yet still maintain some integrity as a fence ongoing and I am hopeful to try to propogate from cuttings or start plants in mass from seed . I am reluctant to do a hedge with anything that is toxic for our livestock and I am trying to find out if false varigated holly is toxic but I am thinking it might be for something like a goat that would not even blink at browsing something prickly. I was told the plant is Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Variegatus'. Putting cherries and plums into the hedging is at risk an animal will eat the wilting leaves as they fall in autumn. Things I was hoping would be a great privacy hedge plant like holly are toxic . I want something safe to browse , then again I don't want a goat to eat away all the hedging. SOmething like willow might make healthy browse that would be maintained in part by horse So far the thing I have found is the honey locust maintained by pletching to make a solid fence ? Willow ? A mixture of plants is not out of the question either say hazelnut, willow, honey locust ? I have to say my mind is a bit boggled what might be workable and inexpensive and not kill me to maintain as I am aging and female pfft ! I'd echo the comments about osage orange. We've got a twenty foot row planted just to see what it does. I started the plants from seed three years ago. They're now about two feet tall. If there's the opportunity, I'll start weaving them or tip layering to quicken the fence. I don't know about them as animal fodder though. The thorns are lethal. They aren't as long as honey locust but they're a lot harder to see. Apparently black locust is acceptable animal fodder. It might be a better option. The thorns aren't as lethal but the growth rate is unbelievable. We planted them from seed on the hill next to our driveway. One of them, in three years from seed, is 15 feet tall. The others are 1/3 to 1/2 that in height. I won't try to weave them in this location but I suspect that they are weavable. They are copiceable, nitrogen fixers, and the flowers in the spring are bee magnets as well as perfuming the air like jasmine does. F. W. Schumacher Co sells osage orange - www.treeshrubseeds.com/specieslist?id=722&ID2=-1&k=Maclura%20pomifera and black locust - www.treeshrubseeds.com/specieslist?id=382&ID2=-1&k=Robinia%20pseudoacaciaIn Canada, you can get osage orange here - www.treehelp.com/osage-orange-seeds/. Also black locust - www.treehelp.com/black-locust-seeds/. This is where I got my osage orange seeds from. I harvest black locust seeds from a couple of trees at the edge of a parking lot. As for maintenance, osage orange and black locust are trees so if you want to keep them as fedges, you'll have to prune and weave regularly or else they'll go vertical on you. That'll be the case with anything you plant since I'm not aware of anything that grows only hedge high - say 20 feet - and is nastily thorny. If you want something more or less impenetrable with no maintenance, white cedar planted two feet apart in two rows with the second row staggered so that the trees are at the 1 foot mark of the first row. It'll be tough for anything to get through without some effort. Not as bullet proof as something thorny but a low maintenance option. |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 28, 2014 19:43:40 GMT -5
As for maintenance, osage orange and black locust are trees so if you want to keep them as fedges, you'll have to prune and weave regularly or else they'll go vertical on you. That'll be the case with anything you plant since I'm not aware of anything that grows only hedge high - say 20 feet - and is nastily thorny. In my area we have a wild hawthorn that grows about 15 feet high and is too thorny to want to mess with. I wonder if pyrocantha or multi-floral roses would produce livestock-proof hedges. |
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Post by oldmobie on Sept 28, 2014 23:18:00 GMT -5
I wonder if pyrocantha or multi-floral roses would produce livestock-proof hedges. The oldtimers here say multiflora rose was brought here as a nonspreading living fence, and that it was later discovered that they can be spread by birds who've eaten their seeds. (I just googled and got a slightly different story, though similar.) At any rate, they're considered a noxious weed here and in many other states. Your environment is quite different, maybe they could be controlled where you are? Anyone interested should also note that goats like to eat the leaves off of them. I think they'd eat the canes if they were hungry enough. Cows seem to leave them alone. |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 29, 2014 0:04:21 GMT -5
We planted multiflora rose as a hedge when I was a boy. It did well at first, but it died a long time ago.
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Post by synergy on Sept 29, 2014 0:55:44 GMT -5
I know I am going to end up with many many species filling in the perimeter hedge because I already have yellow cedar, sequoia, running bamboo, hawthorne, spruce , holly, hedging cedar, rhododendrons, hazelnut , forsythia, oriental plum, black walnut, some volunteered cherry I want to graft onto, beauty bush, walnut and blackberry all on the perimeter in differing areas . I am going to try cuttings from the variegated false holly and some hedging cedars. I have a holly I need to transplant. I am coveting a small grove of yellow bamboo that grows down the roadside I intend to transplant a piece into a heavily shaded spot I have. Oldmobi, I have a friend with those multiflora roses I am allowed to take a few pieces I can dig out. I am going to plant at least 1 or 2 pieces of weeping willow in winter wet spots for the animals to browse and laze under in summer . I have begged some thornless honey locust seeds from Mike H as I intend to interplant them in my interior sloping land which is fruit and nut orchard but if I have any extras those will go into the perimeter. This is going to be a ten year project , I'd like to get stuff in place before the fence in place gives out. I have horses now but in the future I am planning on only a few goats, a few sheep or llama, tractored rabbit and mixed poultry . No plans for larger animals as 4 acres with everything going on that we have now is intense and it will only accomodate a very few larger beasties with hay brought in year round . The hedge for sure is going to be thickened into a wider hedgerow/shelterbelt in some areas over time . Other areas like where the walnuts are I don't expect much to grow in the understory as they mature so it is going to be a very mixed bag. I dearly want a few things like purple lilacs too.
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Post by synergy on Oct 19, 2014 3:25:55 GMT -5
Anyone use sea buckthorn in their hedgerows?
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