Hedges are extremely popular as green enclosures because they create protected spaces. However, some hedge plants can be dangerous for children who might nibble on the plants. In the following article you will find out which bushes you can use without hesitation as a border of a child-friendly green area.
If you have small children, you don't want a poisonous hedge in your garden
Poisonous hedge plants can have serious consequences
Young children in particular tend to put everything that looks interesting in their mouths. Poisonous plant parts do not always taste so unpleasant that the kids spit them out immediately, so that curiosity can have bad consequences.
Consuming the yew tree, whose appetizing-looking berries and all parts of the plant contain the very dangerous toxin taxine, can lead to serious poisoning, and not just in the case of the yew.
Also poisonous are:
- Many evergreen hedge plants,
- almost all cypress species,
- cherry laurel,
- holly,
- Liguster,
- forsythia.
If you are planning to plant a hedge in a garden where children regularly stay, you should find out at the planning stage whether all bushes and trees are non-toxic.
Which hedge plants are suitable?
There are a variety of shrubs that are absolutely safe for kids and that can be used to create extremely attractive hedges:
| kind | description |
|---|---|
| Canadian hemlock | Robust, non-toxic alternative to yew. |
| bullet willow | Ideal for low enclosures up to one meter. |
| bamboo | Fits beautifully in modern Asian-style gardens. |
| roses | Grow very dense and captivate with their blooms. However, the thorns can cause injury. |
| hornbeam | Impresses with its robustness and the beautiful, light green spring shoots. |
| European beech | The foliage turns attractive after summer and stays on the tree until spring budding, making this enclosure a year-round privacy screen. |
| Serbian spruce | Grows slender and forms opaque hedges. |
| marshmallow | Fits wonderfully in colorful flowering hedges. |
| crabapple | Keep these trees at the desired size, grow rather bushy, and form pretty borders. |
| field maple | Deciduous, native deciduous tree well suited for tall hedges. |
| alpine currant | Thrives in any soil, both sun and shade, with ease |
tips
When planting hedges, please always observe the boundary distance to the neighboring property. If you opt for a bamboo hedge, for example, you should consider that some species are runner-forming and can become very high.