Scarlet and copper autumn leaves, nectar-laden flowers for butterflies, berries and scented winter blooms: a four-seasons hedge mixes ornamental flower, leaf and fruit shrubs instead of one flat row of conifers. Choose your shrubs for bloom, leafage, fruit and fragrance, and the hedge repays you with ever-changing scenery as the seasons come and go.
It will give you an ever-changing scenery as seasons come and go.
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Your own particular tastes will guide you to favor shrubs either for their blooming (colors, season, duration), leafage (green or purple, mottled or homogeneous, golden or silver, and all the fall hues like dark green, scarlet or copper), fruits (ornamental or bird-pleasing), or their fragrance (leaf smell or flowers).
Personally, among the fragrant bushes my preference goes to winter honeysuckle, Daphne which has nice wood and mock-orange. Some shrubs like caryopteris also have very fragrant leaves. If you love butterflies, call them over with shrubs that have nectar-laden flowers (lilac, caryopteris). Some horticulture stores offer “ready-plant” hedge kits for four-seasons hedges, including for instance tamarisk, forsythia, red currant bushes, weigela, snowberry and guelder-rose.
The shrubs named above each earn their place for a different reason. This table sums up what each one brings to a mixed hedge, so you can pick before you start digging.
| Shrub | Main attraction | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|
| Winter honeysuckle | Scented flowers | Fragrance in the coldest part of the year |
| Daphne | Fragrance, plus attractive wood | A scented shrub with interest in the stems too |
| Mock-orange | Strongly scented blooms | Planting near a path, door or seat |
| Caryopteris | Very fragrant leaves and nectar-laden flowers | Scent from the foliage and butterflies at the same time |
| Lilac | Nectar-laden flowers | Calling butterflies over to the hedge |
| Forsythia | Sold as part of ready-plant hedge kits | A mixed hedge chosen for you, with no guesswork |
| Snowberry | Sold as part of ready-plant hedge kits | Adding fruit interest alongside the flowering shrubs |
| Guelder-rose | Sold as part of ready-plant hedge kits | Rounding out a kit hedge with flowers and berries |
Whichever you choose, mix them so that blooming, leafage, fruit and fragrance take turns through the year.
The ideal time to plant a hedge is around the feast of Saint Catherine on November 25th for shrubs sold with bare roots, but shrubs purchased in pots or containers can be planted all year round, except when it freezes or during dry spells.
Each hole must measure more or less 16 x 16 x 16 inches (40 x 40 x 40 cm). Spacing depends on the variety: from 20 inches (50 cm) up to 6 ½ feet (2 meters). If your soil has lots of clay, lighten it towards the bottom to ensure drainage with gravel, broken pot shards or expanded clay pebbles. Cut short roots that stick out and broken branches.
If it doesn’t rain after planting, water your hedge abundantly. To slow weed growth, mulch along the hedge. Prune new growth during the first year to stimulate their vigor, but only after flowering. After that, pruning mostly focuses on keeping a harmonious balanced shape.
Pierrick Le Jardinier
