For the past few weeks, my husband and I have been talking non-stop about planting a hedge fence in our backyard along the back fence. I've always loved the look of them, but never considered growing one of our backyard until recently. We were at a local school playing with our puppy and Avery and the entire back fence of the school was a hedge fence and it was so pretty! I just loved how it created a green backdrop and made the simple area feel so peaceful. That's exactly how I want our backyard to feel, private, peaceful and like a destination. Yes fences evoke that much emotion from me!

Our backyard fence is in really good condition and we want to keep it that way, so we quickly nixed the idea of planting vines on the fence. While I love vines, I don't them want to interfere with the structural integrity of the fence, because so vines grow crazy wild! As I mentioned while our fence is in good shape, I really want to create a green backdrop in our backyard that will help create privacy (just like the saying good fences, mean good neighbors) Whelp good fence + hedge fence makes for better neighbors, lol! Plus, I love how hedge fences in addition to creating privacy also act as a natural sound barrier.

Now that we have backyard cottage (my she shed / office) I've always envisioned the area behind the building with a layered look of bushes and plants. Currently its grass / cottage then bam fence. I'm so looking forward to adding a hedge fence in our backyard and softening the lines of our current view.

Now that we've deiced a hedge fence is a must, I've been pining images like a mad woman, check out my Front & Backyard Style Pinterest board for more outdoor inspiration. In addition to pinning, I've been with researching the right fence for our climate + a hedge variety that's low maintenance and will grow like crazy and safe for pets and kids. My favorite bushes are evergreen, since year round they stay pretty green, in short I'm skipping the plants that get all woody and look dead in the winter. Plus since its pretty much year round Sun in California an evergreen fence makes the most sense for our climate.

Privet Hedge

I've narrowed down the search to two hedge fence varieties, first up the Privet Hedge. It's a fast growing hedge and creates a living room, its a very classic and formal style of hedge when maintained. Because of the Privet hedge classic look, its one of the most used hedge to create privacy and cool garden sculptures.

The lush green backdrop of the hedge fence next to this darling backyard cottage is giving me all the feels, and exactly the style I'm dreaming of.

While, I love the look of highly manicured Privet, I'm also totally digging the relaxed non pristine Privet in the picture below.

English Laurel

My second hedge idea is planting English Laurel shrubs. English Laurel stays green (pretty) year round and has a fast growth rate, if you let it grow crazy it can be well over 20 feet tall! We're aiming at 7-8 feet tall, so likely just above our fence level or about a foot taller. I'm not 100% sure the hedge in the picture below is English Laurel, but you get the idea, look how incredible the backdrop is for the backyard.

Below is a better view of English Laurel, during the fall and winter months the leaves change colors.

More Hedge Fence Inspiration

Not entirely convinced a hedge fence is must? The pictures below, will have you digging up holes along your fence in no time.

This picture is giving me LIFE and making me want a pool! I think our next house + the 100+ weather we have in Sacramento a pool will be a must.

The Plan

One of the best times of the year to plant shrubs in our area is October - March. Over the weekend we plan on visiting our favorite local nursery and helping gain more insight on which shrub will grow the faster and thrive along our back fence. The cost of buying lots a shrubs can add up quickly, so most likely we'll buy bare-root shrubs that are 1 -3 feet high and cost way less than buying shrubs in a container. We plan to plant them 1 - 1.5 feet apart to create the hedge 'look.' Over the weekend, we need to measure our fence line, and mark the holes for our hedge. Depending on the variety we choose, it may take 3-5 years before our hedge fences grows to 6-8 feet tall. I'm holding out hop it only takes 2 years, lol! We have butterfly bushes in our front garden bed and when I let them, they get taller than our roof line, so basically I want the growth rate of the bushes we plant to be like to butterfly bushes lol.

I've checked out a few places online that ship bare root shrubs at pretty decent prices! I'm going to compare them to local nursery and see what works out to be the best deal. We plan to plant the shrubs along our fence line and curve on the side of both fences. Most likely at the end of the hedge on both sides, I'll plant flowering evergreen bushes where our hedge stops, to create a pretty transitions from the hedge fence to our wood fence.

I can't wait to get started on this project and have my #HedgeFence goals become reality! Once we get started on the project, I'll share the before & after plus breakdown our budget for this project. Depending on how well the hedge starts to grow, I can totally see us planting more hedges on sides of our fence too.

Are you also dreaming of a pretty hedge fence for your backyard? What type of fence or no fence situation is in your backyard?