Suburban Hedge Garden: An Environmentally Sustainable Option

Since most of us do not have a forest or an estate in the country, a Suburban Hedge Garden provides many of us with an environmentally sustainable option, to maximize the capabilities of our suburban property, to provide food and shelter for wildlife, food for the table and even sequester a bit of carbon from the atmosphere for centuries (some hedges in the UK and Europe are thought to be centuries old).  A Suburban Hedge Garden is a term I recently coined which is based on some of the ideas in Harvey Ussery’s recent article in Mother News titled “Plant an Edible Forest Garden” and Anna Pavord’s popular book titled “The New Kitchen Garden.”
A hedge formed using a single species of shrub or tree can be beneficial but a hedge like the one Anna Pavord describes in the section of her book titled, “A Rustic Mixed Hedge”, is much more vibrant and inviting to both animals and humans. Just imagine a hedge providing elderberries, paw paws, blackberries, hazelnuts, and blueberries for your table and all sorts of different seeds for wildlife.

Unlike its cousin, the English Rustic Mixed Hedge, the Suburban Hedge Garden is planted for the wide variety of conditions found here in the US and around the world. My Suburban Hedge Garden is currently planted with wax myrtle, bald cypress, red bay, apple, eastern red cedar, and thornless black berries. Over the next year or so I will be incorporating blueberries, Chinese chestnuts, and Japanese sour oranges, paw paw, quince and dogwood into the hedge. Quite a departure from a hedge which might be found in Europe or bordering a formal garden. That is the beauty of the Suburban Hedge Garden, it can be tailored to your climate and soil conditions. For example, someone living in Miami Florida might plant guava, oranges, limes and maybe bananas in their hedge while someone in Minnesota might plant black berries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries in theirs.

On the sunny spots at the base of the hedge I plan to plant strawberries. I plan to use the native evergreen red bay tree and wax myrtle shrub to produce a continuously shaded micro climate suitable for edible mushrooms. Yes, mushrooms. The shade provided by the hedge will encourage mushroom growth both in the ground and on inoculated logs.

Consider planting a Suburban Hedge Garden. Not only will you provide your yard with privacy but you will also experience the continual changes of the plants with the seasons, visits by grateful wildlife, food for your table and maybe centuries from now someone will still be enjoying a hedge you planted with your own two hands.

For more information on gardening on your suburban lot,  please visit the backyard food production complex section of our forum.