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Best Plants for Free-Flowing Hedges
from: Lawn and Garden MagicIf you're planning a formal hedge, you should consider plants that are free flowing. What's different about free-flowing plants than formal boxwood shrubs is that they're not as shapeable.
Many plants can be clipped into hedges and screens. Flowering or foliage color, which will fit the with your landscape plans for your lawn? You have many choices from hedge plants that range from 2 - 3 feet tall all the up to 20 feet. You can choose which ever plants give you the effect or appearance you're looking for that will also fit in the space available and adapt to the sun or shade.
You can mix several types of shrubs form a hedge with various flowering plants. Here's the five best plants for free-flowing hedges, which are: Azaleas, Lilac, Spirea, Barberry and Forsythia.
Azaleas are a popular flowering shrub with more than 800 species and over 10,000 named varieties for you to choose from. Their colors are brilliant including white, pink, snow-white, orchid, watermelon pink, opal, red, and lavender. You should feed Azaleas regularly if you want to achieve maximum growth. Fertilizing is best done immediately after blooming, again arpimd June 1st, and again in August and mid September.
Lilac Bushes are very popular flowering bushes due to the soft scent it puts out. They're also deciduous shrubs and with heights that vary, but they usually reach about six feet. Wedgwood blue and soft purple are the primary colors and the grow in rich, thick clusters that bloom in the late spring and many claim they have the most unforgettable aroma in the world. Their leaves are dark green, however, it's understandable that lilacs are usually planted for their flowers and aroma rather than their foliage.
Lilac bushes should get full sun and rich, well-drained soil that is a neutral pH. Do pruning after blooming for good air circulation. Dead flowers need to be cut off once they've finished blooming. This promotes still more flowering the next season. Let's face it, there's nothing in the world that can beat the sweet aroman of lilacs in the spring.
Spirea is also a great choice for free-flowing shrubs. They range in size from 2 - 6 feet and one a popular choice is the Japanese Spirea. Leaf colors range from chartreuse, bronze, red, blue-green, orange and burgundy. The plant produces clusters of pink flowers at the tips of its wiry branches.
The Japanese Spirea leaves turn either a beautiful red or rusty gold in the autumn. This type of Spirea should be able to grow in just about any soil including soil that's higher in alkaline. Spirea will grow in partial shade but full sun promotes better flowering and leaf color. They do best in climates with distinct winters, making them the perfect choice for anyone in the Midwest.
You'll discover there are lots of variations of Barberry shrubs. Japanese barberry is especially hardy and has thorns and beautiful yellow flowers. This shrub grows to about nine feet and spreads to about eight feet. Flowering will start in mid April, continuing through the winter. Barberries grow best in full sun but will do fine in partial shade and in most types of soil. These shrubs should be pruned to maintain them in good shape as soon as they flower or in the later winter. Male and female plants should both be kept together in order to produce ornamental berries.
Forsythia bushes are one of the first signs of spring. They're a deciduous shrub that blossoms in the early spring and they grow fast shrubs and have an upright and arching form. Their yellow flowers are be beautiful and vibrant.
Forsythia are going to do best in full sun where there is also well-drained soil. These plants are beautifully decorative, often used as a living wall during the summer and autumn. Forsythia bushes can also be used for erosion control where there are slopes. Pruning isn't compulsory, in fact these plants can go a number of years without pruning. It's best to do pruning just after they've flowered in the spring. By pruning 1/4 to 1/3 of the oldest branches right down to the ground, you'll encourage new growth. Annual pruning isn't necessary, but if you decide to do some pruning, the reason it should be done after flowering is that it's easier distinguish the newest branches, since only older branches will have blooms.
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