Congratulations--it looks like a great set-up!

John - any progress to add to this thread?  Curious to see how you're getting along!

Any update pictures???

Yes.  We're overdue for an update.  
(I have also started hedge in similar (red clay) dirt and rocks.    I'd really like to see how yours is doing, and how the spacing and your watering system is working out).

I have a 50 ft by 10 ft strip on the west side of my driveway that gets a good amount of sun that I am considering for a fig hedge.

My primary question is spacing, I would like to pull off 6 or 7 ft between plants, grown bush style, obviously it would need some pruning to make it work.

As Dave said, updates or contributions from anyone who has a fig hedge would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to see the results, i took out a raspberry patch to make room for a fig hedge between two pine trees about 30 foot long. i am planning on using hardy chicago, i am getting many more kinds now, so i may do somthing with the HC. havend decided yet. got another line about 40 foot long to i wanted to put figs at as a hedge. not alot of space but want alot of trees. so this will kill two birds with one stone so to speak.. i just need to narrow down what i put there.

Well I have not grown but keep in mind: Air circulation, Sun penetration to center, watering and root expansion. The first 2 can be controlled by pruning and positioning. The only one that you can't is root size after planting. So that has to be taken into account before setting in planting area.

The smaller hardy chicago i planned on planting 7 foot apart this should allow enough root space. i would just need one with close to the same growth habbit if i were to alternate. and lik wise trees on the other run as well. the front one will get full sun all day. all year the 30 footer will not get as much but i do have one hardy chicago planted near the same spot. it gets a little less sun than the new spot would and it has thrived and set good fruit. it is however still young and i was told that its flavor will only improve with age, peaking at about 5 years. or so im told. right now its going into its third year.

Today I laid out a hedge that will hold 16 plants but I used 10 foot centers.  The opposite fence line will have a hedge as well but it will only be 12 plants but also on 10 foot centers.

Very nice Dave I might drop back to 6 foot or just sray at 7. eather way its going to be fun to do i great to watch grow.

Yes, it is very enjoyable watching the hedge fill in.   We got a few figs from it this year, even though the trees are all very young. 

I strongly suggest getting a watering system in as well.   Whether drip tape, or even just a soaker hose. 

If I was doing it again, I would probably put them a little further apart.  7 feet sounds pretty good actually..  Especially if you are using different cultivars.   If all the same (like you plan with hardy chicago) probably no big deal. They'll be better protected by being closer together.   

But with different trees with different growth habits, you wouldn't want a great tasting favorite being held in check by two aggressive growing trees on either side of it.   You can prune them back of course, but still...

Come on guys...let's see pictures of these hedges! ... and an update from OP :)

We had three nights of frost in early November.   The hedge ain't too pretty at the moment.

These were taken earlier this year and show a portion of it.

Very nice job Dave! Look forward to seeing it next growing season...

Dave, the trees are looking very nice! Are you going to let them grow taller and taller?  

I got some cutting from a neighbour down the street who had 5 trees and these 5 alone were covering most of his property.  Perhaps some 30 years old - most likely never pruned.

I like how yours are looking right now.  I am planning mine and just cannot wait for them to grow.  How long as it been since you planted them?

Can you throw a tarp over them with a bamboo (like an umbrella to protect them from the cold air/frost?)

  this espalier is a great idea to incorporate in the hedge.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=2627095


Wonder what the ground cover is.. anyone guess?

Dave awsome job on the hedge. Grasa i like the fan look but i think i would rather not. if i have my hedge to uniform i wouldnt want to take cutting to shar with everyone.

Dave, what varieties have you planted for the hedge?  Is the plan to have them grow and fill in the sides?   I wish I had a bigger piece of property!!

I am going with a hedge to fit more trees and maximize space. if i chose wisley then i can have 10 trees altogether in my two hedges that i am working on. i ripped out raspberried and blackberries a month or so ago to make room for more figs. thinking about getting rid of my one grape vine too. that will open up a spot for 6 more and i can put another 12 in the back. my bigest problem is where to put what. guess i better wait until everything roots so i know exactly what im working with. I have found out alot about the kinds i have and are rooting but i still dont know what all thier growth habbits and ave hieght is. important info.

I am just waiting for the 811 people to show up and mark the lines so I don't cut our cable line which runs right where the irrigation line will be running.  They only put the cable line down 6 inches and my whomper will cut that line like it isn't even there.  Then the wife will yell at me lol so here I sit waiting for the locator. 

gotta keep the wife happy. momma aint happy nobody is.

These pics were taken a month or two earlier than in the previous post.  All are different varities.  The first five trees in the forground  below were all cupped January 1 of this year from cuttings from forum members. They are rapidly catching up with the others, which were in pots and given to me by another forum member.  I have two, (maybe three) spaces left for trees, one in the forground, and I mayt turn the corner at the far end.

The plan is to let them grow together into a hedge, keep it below 6 feet for easy picking, and to prune each tree to three or four main limbs so as to get brebas every year, then allow those three limbs to leaf out for the hedge effect.  I will allow one or two limbs to grow horizontally out into the yard as well.  

Trees are two feet off the fence, in a four foot (slightly) raised bed, and heavily mulched with straw.  The fence is four feet high.

The other side of the fence is an  easement for our underground utilities.  Still my yard for five feet.  I have told the neighbors and the utility meter readers they are welcome to figs next year...but not bags of them. 

And I know what you mean Wills.  My tv/internet cable is also very shallow, not in conduit, and runs under one of my trees and down the center of my blackberry bed for about sixty feet.  

Gotta be careful when digging in there!

insperatinal pics Dave. giving me ideals to incorperate in my own hedge which with any luck will be planted this spring. I look forward to seeing more pics later down the road.

Looking forward to seeing pics of your project as well, Dave