Build Your Private Retreat Before It’s Too Late
Hedges are one of the best ways to add value to your home and create a classic look to your landscape. With so many options to choose from, it gives you the opportunity to decide between a formal or informal look that could vary in height, size, color, and shape!
Some of the biggest reasons for a homeowner to want to add hedges into their landscape include:
- Making a sound and weather barrier
- Creating a dramatic entryway
- Adding a wall of color
- Forming a living border
The number one reason should be no surprise (hint: it’s in the title!) to anybody. The biggest reason most people decide to add hedges in their yard is for the amazing privacy it creates around their home. We have compiled some of our favorite hedges to plant for our current fall season. Keep reading and see which hedge is right for you and your yard!
Carolina Cherry (Prunus caroliniana ‘Compacta’)
The Carolina Cherry is native to the southwestern area, so it is no surprise that it does amazing in the desert region. This evergreen can be grown and used as a large shrub or as a small tree, whatever your needs might be. It grows easily in full sun exposure and requires little upkeep for it to grow and thrive. The Carolina Cherry has become a popular choice for its overall minimal maintenance, natural upright cone-like shape, and ability to tolerate heat, drought, and wind. These features make it great to be used as a weather barrier as well as for privacy purposes. The Carolina Cherry is a small to medium-sized evergreen with dark green, lustrous wavy foliage on brown thorn-less stems. They can also be easily sheared into a tall screen or sound barrier which make them a near-perfect option for many homes.
Japanese Blueberry (Elaeocarpus decipiens)
The Japanese Blueberry tree is a visually appealing evergreen due to its thick, lush foliage and striking leaf color that lasts throughout the year. The green hues from the foliage provides a fantastic backdrop for contrasting flowers and shrubs. It thrives in full sun and can handle the cold extremely well. It has become one of the most planted hedge variety and is an excellent choice for just about any landscape. Depending on how you choose to trim your trees, you can plant them to grow tall and upright and create a thick privacy wall that covers more than your fence does or make a fence completely made of Japanese Blueberry trees!
Wax Leaf Privet (Ligustrum japonicum ‘Texanum’)
One of the only hedges on this list that is NOT a tree is the Wax Leaf Privet shrub. This plant does great in Nevada due to how much sun it enjoys and how tolerable it is with different variations of soil conditions. The Wax Leaf Privet is easy to maintain once established only needing low to moderate watering and only needing pruning at the discretion of the home owner, depending on your desired size and shape design. This fast-growing evergreen shrub produces unique green foliage, blooms with white flowers and berries, and is recommended to be planted in the fall while the soil is perfectly prepared to handle a new transplant.
Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis)
While not the most common plant that you think of when thinking of a hedge, the Bay Laurel is just as great as any other well-known option. This evergreen tree can easily be used as hedge material to create a little bit of privacy for your yard. This tree is quite water wise, cold hardy, drought tolerant, and requires partial to full sun - so it can handle the Nevada desert like a pro! Because of its dense foliage, it creates privacy immediately and makes a great sound barrier. It has a slower growth rate than the other trees on this list, so it would be best to buy as big as you can for instant privacy. This medium to large tree can be easily shaped any way that best fits your landscaping preferences.
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