Garden tip

Hedges with wild fruits for everyone to enjoy

Patrizia Haslinger is also offering her own workshop on September 28, info: www.theHeartgardener.at

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Did you know that there are so-called "hedge days" in the fall? They can usually be purchased cheaply from agricultural associations from September to mid-October. Thanks to local production and therefore short distances, these wild shrubs are not only sustainable, but also tailored to the needs of the insect world. Many municipalities therefore support these programs.

By the way, attracting pollinators also increases the harvest yield in your vegetable and fruit garden! So what are you waiting for? Let it hum and buzz in your garden! Which shrubs go well in a hedge planting? The elder bush should not be missing in any "home garden". According to an old "garden myth", it acts as a protector for house and garden! Rock pear, hawthorn, dirndl bush (cornelian cherry), sloe, common snowball, honeysuckle, chokeberry, sea buckthorn, rowan, hazelnut, quince, barberry, speierling or medlar are also very suitable.

Little care required
In most cases, little maintenance is required - on the contrary: the more freely they are allowed to grow, the more naturally they will develop and the more beautiful they will grow. So don't plant them too close together and keep a sufficient distance from the neighboring property.

Shrubs have a lot to offer

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Shelter for animal garden inhabitants
Many of these shrubs offer great garden design aspects from spring to well into the fall: from very early flowering to vitamin-rich fruit enjoyment in late summer to beautiful fall colors. In winter, they provide shelter for the garden's animal inhabitants.

This example shows just how wonderfully you can use wild fruits in your autumn decorations

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Popular with chefs
Wild fruits are particularly popular in the kitchen because of their aroma and vital nutrients. Caution: Please note that some wild fruits need nights of frost (sloe, medlar) or should be cooked before eating (rowanberry, quince). You can even add them to your medicine chest: Wild fruits are unsurpassed in their vitamin C content - such as rose hips.

Bee magnet
Incidentally, this can also be integrated into the hedge planting as a wild rose. It usually blooms at the beginning of May before the classic garden roses, is fragrant and is a real magnet for bees. Another great thing about wild roses/dog roses is that they are hardy and disease-resistant and should be left on when they have already faded. This allows the decorative rose hips to form a few weeks later.

Patrizia Haslinger