If you only think of beer when you think of hops, you overlook the fact that hops are a versatile crop. Medicinal products can be obtained from it, the young shoots are edible and it also makes a very decorative privacy screen in the garden.
Why are hops suitable as a privacy screen?
Hops are well suited as a privacy screen because they grow quickly, produce a lot of leaf mass, require little care and have edible shoots and decorative leaves. The disadvantage is the lack of privacy in winter, as hops retreat into the ground.
That's why hops are good as a privacy screen
Hops are a good privacy screen for several reasons:
- Grows very quickly
- forms a lot of leaf mass
- needs little care
- Fruits and young shoots are edible
- leaves no damage to the masonry
Hops can be used in many different ways. The young shoots can be prepared like asparagus. The female fruits produce hops, which are needed for brewing beer or for natural remedies. In addition, hops are very decorative simply because of their size and the leaves that are reminiscent of vine leaves.
Hops grow so quickly
Hops sprout very early in the year. If the weather is good and the nutrient supply is optimal, a plant can grow up to one meter tall per week. Hops can grow up to seven meters and even higher. On the balcony, the climbing plant stays smaller because the roots cannot spread as far in the pot.
Hops shrink in winter
Hops as a privacy screen have advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, the care measures required for other privacy protection plants are no longer necessary. Hops are only shortened in the fall and then become sedentary. A general pruning is only necessary in the spring before new growth.
A disadvantage of hops as a privacy screen is that the plant overwinters in the ground. From autumn to spring, the climbing plant offers no privacy protection.
It doesn't work without a trellis
Hops are a climbing plant. The hop tendrils wind clockwise around suitable climbing aids. You need to provide the plant with trellises (€15.00 on Amazon) and occasionally support it in climbing.
Balcony balustrades are usually not high enough. Here you have to provide higher trellises or pull strong ropes.
Tip
If you grow hops as a privacy screen in the garden on the property line, keep a sufficient distance from the neighboring property. Hops not only grow very quickly above ground, the roots also spread in all directions. If the plant is too close to the border, trouble is inevitable.
