Hedge is a continuous strip of shrubs or small trees planted close together to make a boundary. Farmers in some countries grow hedges as fences to prevent farm animals from straying or to prevent wild animals from entering. Gardeners grow hedges as decorative boundaries around lawns and flower beds. Farm hedges are trimmed from time to time and may be laid (have vertical-growing branches tied down horizontally) to make them dense. Garden hedges are generally closely trimmed. Some people cut hedges into ornamental shapes. People generally make garden hedges from quick-growing evergreen shrubs that keep their shape with only little trimming. Farmers use stronger, thorny shrubs for hedges.
In Europe, farmers make hedges from hawthorns and blackthorns. In North America, honey locusts or Osage oranges are commonly used for hedges. In South Africa, many hedges are made from kei apples.
For garden hedges, people commonly use broad-leaved privets and kinds of cypresses. In Britain, yew is traditionally used for making hedges on estates and in parklands. Landscape gardeners use box plants. Decorative hedges are made from ornamental flowering shrubs, such as berberis in Europe and pittosporum in Australia.
Hedges provide shelter and breeding and feeding areas for small mammals, birds, and insects. Many songbirds nest in hedges in gardens and on farmland.
