We just spent weeks removing some super invasive yuccas from our yard. We had no idea what an ordeal this would be – but we made it to the other side! You can read the entire Yucca Diaries saga here! There isn’t really any privacy for us in our backyard. Our neighbors can see straight into our kitchen windows. So, we decided we wanted to start planting a hedge. This is Hedge Fun!
Back in December, we were so excited. We’d just saved up for this nice, long hedge.First, we rented an auger which made planting these Indian Laurels super easy and efficient. We planted 65 trees and got a great deal from a local nursery. We were so excited to watch this hedge grow in…then they all died. Our first attempt at this hedge turned out to be a very expensive gopher dinner.
Take two…
So, we started the whole process over again. This time, the goal was to keep our sweet gopher friends away. We realized after a lot of research that we needed much larger holes, but our backs were completely shot from our Yucca Removal project. So, we rented a skid steer with an auger attachment. With 120 holes to dig, it was so much more efficient to use this machine.
Wire Baskets
Next, we needed to build wire baskets to protect the roots from our ✨enemies✨. Jake spent the next few weeks patiently making one basket at a time. For this, he used chicken wire and zip ties. He did hours of research and came to the conclusion that the Indian Laurels would do much better with large baskets so the roots can spread out a bit. The baskets needed to be 2 feet wide to accommodate this. It created a ton of extra work for us but will be so helpful in the long run.
We hired some help with planting from two gardeners and it was amazing! We had all the wire baskets prepped and ready for them for day two – but then they canceled. More digging for us! The auger wasn’t quite big enough for the holes we needed so we had to make them a bit bigger ourselves before planting.
Planting
The process was, dig a hole, put the wire basket in, back fill it with a bunch of dirt, and top it off with fertilizer. We planted the trees 3 feet off the fence and 2 and a half feet apart. After finishing the first side of the fence, I was so excited!
For our bank and along the pool, we had to dig the holes ourselves since the skid steer couldn’t make its way over there. We didn’t mean to but we definitely saved the hardest part for last. Along the pool is in complete sun so the dirt was super dry. It honestly felt like digging through concrete at some points.
But, with some blood, sweat, and thankfully no tears this time, we finally got it done!
We planted a 250 feet hedge all by ourselves! I love how it looks already and I can’t wait to watch it all grow in!
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