This last workweek I exhibit engraft a living fence and post the process on YouTube :
you’re able to getthe extended 21 - minute mix of the Publix Song here , if you ’re insane .
Since there were a hatful of questions on this fence , I put up a follow - up video answering some of them :
I ’m write this article on half my normal caffein dose , so if I make a mistake … find fault the Lipton .
Species Options for Planting a Living Fence
For subtropical climate with little to no frosty atmospheric condition , you could make a inhabit fencing withGliricidia sepium , moringa , some aralia mintage , purple Spondias purpurea or even governor plum .
Farther north you’re able to do this with willow tree branches – peculiarly in wet arena .
survive fences could also potentially be planted from the branches of coinage of mulberry , though I ’ve had 0 % success rootle mulberry tree by sticking branches in the ground .
If you do n’t have any Tree with branches that can be ram down in the ground to root , just plant almost any kind of tree seedling in volt shapes at 45 - degree angles and tie them together at hybridisation period .
midget apples , anyone ?
There are a caboodle of hypothesis for building a living fence . Interweaving the tree induce them to transplant together over sentence and make an almost dense barrier – even more so if you use a hard and burry tree like Osage River orange !
Asrecounted over at Mother Earth News,“Easily propagated from seed , clipping , or stock from the stem , Osage River orange is tolerant of a wide range of soils , immune to drouth , long - lived , and affected little by insects or disease . Planted at a spatial arrangement of 1 foot , in four years it makes a fence that is “ horse - high , bull - strong , and grunter - mean . ”
Osage orange is also one of the best woods for cock handles and bow . Bonus !
From the same clause :
“ Other thorny species that could be used to make living fences are pyracanthas , jujube , hollies , dim locust tree ( also fixes nitrogen ) , honey locust ( which has high - protein seeds and pods for farm animal and people ) , bristly ash tree , and rugosa arise ( which has vitamin nose candy - rich fruit , or “ hips ” ) . ”
Other Side Benefits of Living Fences
Beyond just keeping out wandering livestock and nosey neighbors , support fences have some serious advantages .
lease ’s run through a few !
1. A Living Fence is Free
Unless you purchase seedlings to plant , you could start out a survive fence for costless . In my case , all I had to do was cut some Gliricidia offshoot and plant them . As for potted trees or bush , you’re able to start your own . I always keep a little plant nursery expire with a lot of number and art object in it . Maybe a multi - species living fence would lick ? Imagine that ! Bougainvillea , noni trees , violet Spondias purpurea , alternating with nitrogen fixers … crazy ! A 2D nutrient forest !
Oh mankind . I need to try that .
But the point in time is : loose . detached is honest .
2. A Living Fence Produces for You
A telegram or woods fence is just a barrier , but a living fence is more than that . It ’s a living , productive line of trees .
The top can be cut and feed to livesotck or used as a green layer in compost . you could also let it grow taller and make the trimmings into industrial plant stakes . Or charcoal / biochar .
Not speculative , eh ?
3. A Living Fence Supports Other Species
If your living fence is a N - determine species , it will feed the plants alongside it .
A living fence can also serve as a trellis for yams and other species as well as a base for birds , beneficial insects and lizards .
There are plenty of good understanding to establish a living fence and passel of species that act upon almost no matter where you live on . experimentation like this bread and butter fencing are fun and I look forward to get a line mine in a few months .
Enjoy this postal service ? Pin it on Pinterest !
- Willow living fencing imagevia Rhian on Flickr . ml license .
