A Green Community – Behind the Cedar Hedges

Cedar hedges are iconic in Metis. To many they are what characterize the village and its unique feel and colour. Most visitors think the hedges were planted to assure privacy and fend off the curious gazes of onlookers. In fact, they were planted to keep the dust out. When the Gaspe highway passed through the village, dust was everywhere. Cedar hedges offered a cheap and long-living barrier to keep away the annoying particles that otherwise cloaked windows and invaded the decorated interiors of homes and hotels.

Eastern white cedar grows easily in the region. It does best in boggy land. Increasingly rare because of the destruction of wetlands, cedar remains the friend of both gardeners and builders. It is the perfect wood for construction. Resistant to insects, it does not rot when not in contact with soil and given space to breathe. It has long been the choice for shingles and decks in shoreline communities.

In gardens, cedar provides an evergreen backdrop ideal to protect a garden and harbour fragile plants. When used as hedges, cedar provides a dense green barrier as effective as any fence. Carefully pruned, cedar can be sculpted in rounded forms and create doorways. Beware however of the snowplough and the heavy winter snows that have been known to transform even the best-trained hedge into a mess of branches and deadwood.