The different varieties of serviceberry, with their shrub or tree-like growth, are suitable as an easy-care alternative to hedges made of conifers, beech and cherry laurel. With targeted pruning measures, rock pears can be trained into a dense hedge within just a few years.
How do you plant a serviceberry hedge in the garden?
Rock pears are suitable as hedge plants for natural gardens, providing flowers, edible fruits and a habitat for animals. Spiked and common rock pears are suitable for hedge planting, with a planting distance of at least 50 cm for optimal development.
The serviceberry as a hedge plant with advantages and disadvantages
The rock pear is generally suitable as a hedge plant, but it is not evergreen like many other classic hedge plants. Even from spring to autumn, a serviceberry is more likely to be viewed as a wild fruit hedge with loose growth, so you shouldn't expect an absolutely closed privacy screen around the property. But rock pears also offer some advantages as hedge plants:
- numerous, decorative flowers
- edible fruits
- Habitat for birds and insects
- attractive autumn color of the leaves
Choose the right variety
When choosing plants for your serviceberry hedge, you should pay attention to choosing the right variety. While the copper rock pear has a tree-like habit up to 6 m high, the lower-growing spiked rock pear and the common rock pear are better suited for hedge planting. Of course, it also depends on what type of hedge you need in your garden. The relatively fast-growing copper rock pear can be the right choice if a tree-like, high hedge is to frame a property as a windbreak and an opaque privacy screen in the lower area of the plants is not important.
Tip for planting a hedge of serviceberry: keep your distance
It can take a few years for the pears to branch sufficiently through cutting. But don't let this entice you to plant the young plants too densely. You should maintain a planting distance of at least 50 cm between the plants so that the individual plants can really develop well.
Tip
Rock pears do not have very deep roots, but they spread their roots relatively far to the sides. You should think about this when planting a hedge along the property line and, if necessary, allow for a little more distance from the neighboring property.
