Food hedge?

I finally have a house and a little bit of back yard to grow!  Our backyard has a BIIIIG raised bed area and a backdoor neighbor with a chain link fence and absolutely no privacy.  Turns out the fence is theirs and if I were to put in a privacy fence I would loose 2ft of growing area.  So of course my British husband asked why I didn't just grow a hedge!  There is 57ft of space.  South facing.  New Jersey Zone 6b.

I have no problem with my neighbors sharing in my harvest, but my biggest concern is that they have a reasonably tidy hedge to look at.  Their yard is just a lawn.  Looks like immaculate grass.  I've looked at doing blackberries, or elderberries, but they look like a wild untamed mess.  Perfect for elsewhere, but not so great there.  Thought about hazelnuts, but is it worth growing american or beaked hazelnuts, and how nicely does it hedge.  High Bush Blueberries is an option too, but I don't think I want 57 feet of them.

Any and all suggestions would be great.  I can grow in containers, but this is my first time having actual land to plant, so beginner level gardening I guess.  Thanks!

I'd do a mix so that vertically it's like apples over hazels over currants, and also toss in some shrubby alders for nitrogen fixation, as well as some thuja since they can develop in the shade as they are slower growing in the early years. All those plants can handle being densely planted as well as pruned or coppiced pretty heavily, so they should work good.

Its a nice feeling owning your own block.
Looking at the existing vegetation I would just plant what is good for you.
I doubt anybody will complain about any type of plantings you decide apon.
Do Feijoas grow in your area?

Feijoa growing in the USA
They hedge very well and need drained land.

There are some good suggestions in this thread https://permies.com/t/124412/Edible-Perennial-Hedging

I asecond John's suggestion of feijoa's, I love them and can eat them by the bucketful. They make delicious chutneys too.

To expand on Abe's suggestion, espaliered fruit trees would be both productive and aesthetically pleasing. The trees could be trained against your neighbour's fence.

Megan, how do you make chutney please?

How about Aronia melanocarpa/chokeberry? Or is your place too warm? Aronia makes quite a nice hedge and has beautiful autumn colours. I suppose some people might not enjoy the fruit (being of the slightly mouth-wrinkling variety, not acid but astringent) but I like them. And I think they're commonly used in mixed juice.

Otherwise, maybe put up some form of trellis on your side of the fence and grow grapes up it?

Wild plum or grapes may be two good options.

Crab apples could be another.  They aren't good eating as is but make good cider and pie fillings.

You also don't need the entire hedge to be all the same plant.  You can mix it up with a few of each suggestion.  That way if one doesn't work as a hedge it isn't a total failure and you can fill its spot with one that did work well.

John C Daley wrote:Megan, how do you make chutney please?

Hello John, I have adapted this recipe for feijoa chutney

https://thisnzlife.co.nz/recipe-chunky-monkey-feijoa-chutney-the-best-ever-feijoa-recipe-skins-included/

I usually add a generous knob of finely grated ginger (or you can put the vinegar and coarsely chopped ginger and cloves of garlic into a blender) and only use the very small or damaged fruit for chutney.

I also save all the feijoa skins of the fruit that I have scooped the insides out to preserve (I make crumble with preserved feijoa s and apple) chop into large chunks and make the chutney with just the skins.

It's rather good served with cold meats or cheese.

Thanks Megan

Unfortunately feijoa wouldn't enjoy Elizabeth's garden, it's going to get way too cold for them.

A mix of all the climate appropriate fruit and nut trees mentioned sound great. Elderberry can look a bit wild and straggly but will grow back well after a hard pruning, as will most of the plants mentioned. It won't be a manicured English hedge but if things need to be kept neat-ish, it can be less wild looking

Maybe talk to your neighbours and ask what they'd like you to grow and make it clear they can share the fruit. If they're more engaged in the process from the start, it will avoid any future problems. Alternatively if they're not keen on the idea, rather than planting on the boundary line, plant further in so the hedge is entirely contained within your land.

I agree with the idea to include lots of different plants in your hedge. In your climate, you can grow goumi berries and josta berries (head height or taller), gooseberries (waist height), currants (lower), lingonberry and cranberry (ground cover). Add some early, mid season, and late highbush blueberries, and some honey berries, and you'll be able to eat fruit from the last frost to the first frost.

Plums can be pruned to be bushy and multi-stemmed. They could be a nice addition to a long hedge.

There's also a few cold hardy figs that will die back to the ground in your climate but then shoot up high during the summer.

And I've never grown bush cherries but they are on my wish list- they are supposedly good for climates even colder than yours.