Question
I would like to plant a line of some kind of bush or shrub or hedge or something on the north side of my driveway to do the following:

1.  The driveway has a funny curve in it and people tend to drive off the side.  I would like the plant to provide some resistance so that people realize that they're driving off.  It would be nice if the plant did not have really sharp leaves/branches that would scratch up the car.
2.  I would like the plants to be dense enough so that, in the winter, they will stop snow blowing from the north onto the driveway.
3.  I don't want the plants to have roots that spread in a way that they will go under the driveway and slowly destroy it.  Also, the gas, electricity, and cable are buried not far from the driveway;  I don't want to have to kill the plants if one of those companies needs to dig there.
4.  It would be nice if the plants produced berries that I could eat.

My driveway is in northern Indiana.  The soil type next to it is called "Troxel Silt Loam" on the USDA soil survey.

Answer
Hello,

I would not recommend that you plant shrubs directly beside the driveway. The shrubs will cause more snow to be deposited on your driveway because the snow laden wind will slow as it hits the shrubs. Optimally,the setback for a snow fence or shrubs is about 35 times the height of the fence or shrubs. For a row of shrubs 8 feet tall the setback would have to be about 150 feet.
Most of the snow trapped by snow fences is actually deposited in front of the fence.


A porous snow fence 4 feet tall would require a setback of 25 times the height. Increasing the density of the shrubs and adding more rows lowers the required setback but the shrubs must increase in height. If you have enough room to proceed with installing the shrub barrier here is a list of shrubs that will meet your requirements:

honeysuckle (edible)

chokecherry (edible)

golden currant (edible)

cotoneaster

plum (edible)

siberian peashrub (edible)

sumac (edible)

privet (edible for birds)


Tall grasslike plants behind the barrier can add to trapping of snow. Corn has been used as an effective snow barrier in rural areas.

To control vehicle traffic on the driveway,perhaps you could install some kind of guardrail,a low wall or use bollards.  Good luck. Let me know if I can be of further help.

Mark Harshman
http://www.mahdrafting.com
http://www.scribd.com/markscrib47
Email: [email protected]