Winning Hedge

Garden hedges provide more than just structure and privacy – they can also reward you with edible fruits and leaves. Consider some of these tasty options

- Helen Young

FRUITING HEDGES

Many delicious fruits come from bushy plants that form dense hedges:

Feijoa (Acca sellowiana), or pineapple guava, has egg-shaped fruit with a fruit salad flavour. Its pretty crimson flowers are also edible. Silvery leaves make this a very attractive hedge. It grows in most climates, surviving mild frosts and salty coastal winds. The heaviest crops of fruit develop when flowers are cross-pollinated, so having a whole hedge of feijoas is ideal.

Cumquats and calamondins are the bushiest, most compact citrus for hedging. The white flowers are beautifully fragrant and the small, bright orange fruit is held on the tree for months. Although sour, it’s delicious made into marmalade or steeped in brandy. Oval ‘Nagami’ cumquats have sweet skin and can be eaten whole.