Gardening Hedges Laidback Gardener Tip of the Day

Instant Hedges Reach America

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Instant hedges: just plop them end to end into a trench for instant privacy. Source: instanthedge.com

Millennial gardening is not like 20th-century gardening. Patiently waiting for a seed to grow into a flower or tree is out. Instead, instant gratification is in. Everyone wants results … and yesterday is not soon enough!

So, if you’re an impatient North American gardener, there’s big news. It’s now possible to put in an instant hedge. No, not a hedge of young bare-root sticks you plant now and prune patiently until they fill in. An already pruned, already filled-in hedge. Instantly! (Well, at least within a few hours, which is pretty close!)

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The product consists of four shrubs or trees already pruned to shape and ready to be assemble into a hedge. Source: instanthedge.com

The product is called an InstantHedge and is sold as panels of four evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs that have been carefully pruned into an upright rectangular shape. Place them end to end in a prepared trench and voilà! A pruned hedge for instant privacy, one that will look like it’s been growing there for years, not freshly planted.

New to the New World

Instant hedges have been available in Europe for years now, offered by companies such as QuickHedge and Instant Hedges, and are even readily available in Australia and New Zealand. Why the idea as taken so long to reach New World is unknown, but at least they are finally making their way here.

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The root ball is set in a biodegradable cardboard box. Source: instanthedge.com

The company InstantHedge of Canby, Oregon is offering them for shipping in the summer of 2018. Their hedges are sold in biodegradable cardboard boxes for simplified planting and there is a whole range of species and varieties—boxwood, yew, arborvitae, European beech, cherry laurel, etc.—covering hardiness zones 2 through 9. And they come in three heights, 3–4’ and 5–6’ foot, plus a soon-to-come 18-24 inch line for low hedges.

If you want to try an instant hedge any time soon, your best bet would be to order one through a landscape contractor. (And be prepared to explain: most have probably not yet heard of this new product!) However, I suspect that within a few years, you’ll be seeing them in the average garden center.

Many thanks to Maria Zampini of UpShoot for cluing me in to this!

2 comments on “Instant Hedges Reach America

  1. What a great idea – I bet it’s expensive, though.

  2. Kathy Luckhaus

    What a fascinating idea this is. Thank you for letting us know.

    Kathy

    On Sat, Mar 3, 2018 at 5:30 AM, Laidback Gardener wrote:

    > Laidback Gardener posted: ” Millennial gardening is not like 20th-century > gardening. Patiently waiting for a seed to grow into a flower or tree is > out. Instead, instant gratification is in. Everyone wants results … and > yesterday is not soon enough! So, if you’re an impatient Nort” >

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