Katherine Thurston

Well this looks like a handy tool! I switched to no-till, chop and drop gardening a couple of years ago and can see how this would be handy. I only have one old traditional hoe of my grandpas and do not own a scythe. (I am trying to use what I have, without buying new tools). The chop and drop method has been awesome for our plants but I have been bending over and using a serrated saw type knife I found in the shed every time I need to cut plants down. Would love to add this tool to our arsenal. Thanks for the give away!!

Good questions!
There are 4 main purposes of the hedge.
1)Privacy as it is a semi-busy road. Purchasing property on a main road was a big compromise for me.
2)Food/shelter for birds/pollinators.
3)Look pretty in as many seasons as possible, the two main windows of our house look out onto this area and I'd rather look at nice plants than the road.
4)I'd like to plant some food for us as well.

I should mention, we are planning on planting a veggie garden to the west (left in the picture) of this hedge row, so I am thinking we keep the hedgerows to a hight of about 8-10 feet, so as not to cast too much shade.

Katherine

Hello Permies,
My husband and I are just getting settled on our first piece of land. Our first project will be a hedgerow between us and our road. I've attached a picture. We live in the Shuswap area in British Columbia. Plant hardiness zone 6. I think our soil is more on the Alkaline side (lilacs and bare hip roses grow wild). While it's not wet, it is not fantastically drained soil. I am looking for advice or lessons learned by others.
Any input on our plant selection ideas? We are thinking: lilacs, mock orange, rugosa roses, silver buffaloberry, caragana, rocky mountain juniper, hazelnut, bare hip rose.
Should we try and build our hedge on a swale? Considering there should be water from the road run-off and there's a bit of a dip, is this advisable? Thoughts?
Please feel free to shout out if you have any general advice for us, as we're just getting started!
Thanks so much,
Katherine