Hedge vs. Bush — What's the Difference?

Forms a living wall.

Can grow wildly and vary in size.

Used for privacy or as a windbreak.

Grown for decorative purposes.

A line of closely planted shrubs forming a barrier.

Requires less precise care.

Requires regular maintenance.

A low, dense shrub not forming a barrier.

Often found in formal landscapes.

Enhances garden biodiversity.

A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows.

A shrub or clump of shrubs with stems of moderate length

A row of closely planted shrubs or low-growing trees forming a fence or boundary.

(especially in Australia and Africa) wild or uncultivated country

A line of people or objects forming a barrier

A luxuriant growth of thick hair or fur

A means of protection or defense, especially against financial loss

A metal lining for a round hole, especially one in which an axle revolves.

A securities transaction that reduces the risk on an existing investment position.

A sleeve that protects an electric cable where it passes through a panel.

An intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement.

Spread out into a thick clump

A word or phrase, such as possibly or I think, that mitigates or weakens the certainty of a statement.

A low shrub with many branches.

To enclose or bound with or as if with hedges.

A thick growth of shrubs; a thicket.

To hem in, hinder, or restrict with or as if with a hedge.

Land covered with dense vegetation or undergrowth.

To minimize or protect against the loss of by counterbalancing one transaction, such as a bet, against another.

Land remote from settlement

To plant or cultivate hedges.

A shaggy mass, as of hair.

To take compensatory measures so as to counterbalance possible loss.

Vulgar Slang A growth of pubic hair.

To avoid making a clear, direct response or statement.

A fox's tail.

A thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden.

(Archaic) A clump of ivy hung outside a tavern to indicate the availability of wine inside.

A barrier (often consisting of a line of persons or objects) to protect someone or something from harm.

(Obsolete) A tavern.

A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, often topped with bushes, used as a fence between any two portions of land.

To grow or branch out like a bush.

(pragmatics) A non-committal or intentionally ambiguous statement.

To extend in a bushy growth.

(finance) Contract or arrangement reducing one's exposure to risk (for example the risk of price movements or interest rate movements).

To decorate, protect, or support with bushes.

Used attributively, with figurative indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; third-rate.

To furnish or line with a bushing.

(transitive) To enclose with a hedge or hedges.

(Slang) Bush-league; second-rate

(transitive) To obstruct or surround.

(horticulture) A woody plant distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, being usually less than six metres tall; a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category.

To offset the risk associated with.

A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree.

(ambitransitive) To avoid verbal commitment.

(historical) A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (sacred to Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern itself.

(intransitive) To construct or repair a hedge.

A person's pubic hair, especially a woman's.

To reduce one's exposure to risk.

(hunting) The tail, or brush, of a fox.

A thicket of bushes, usually thorn bushes; especially, such a thicket planted as a fence between any two portions of land; and also any sort of shrubbery, as evergreens, planted in a line or as a fence; particularly, such a thicket planted round a field to fence it, or in rows to separate the parts of a garden.

(archaic) A tavern or wine merchant.

To inclose or separate with a hedge; to fence with a thickly set line or thicket of shrubs or small trees; as, to hedge a field or garden.

(often with "the") Tracts of land covered in natural vegetation that are largely undeveloped and uncultivated.

To obstruct, as a road, with a barrier; to hinder from progress or success; - sometimes with up and out.

(Australia) The countryside area of Australia that is less arid and less remote than the outback; loosely, areas of natural flora even within conurbations.

To surround for defense; to guard; to protect; to hem (in).

(New Zealand) An area of New Zealand covered in forest, especially native forest.

To surround so as to prevent escape.

(Canadian) The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry.

To protect oneself against excessive loss in an activity by taking a countervailing action; as, to hedge an investment denominated in a foreign currency by buying or selling futures in that currency; to hedge a donation to one political party by also donating to the opposed political party.

(Canadian) A woodlot or bluff on a farm.

To shelter one's self from danger, risk, duty, responsibility, etc., as if by hiding in or behind a hedge; to skulk; to slink; to shirk obligations.

(baseball) Amateurish behavior, short for "bush league behavior"

To reduce the risk of a wager by making a bet against the side or chance one has bet on.

A thick washer or hollow cylinder of metal.

To use reservations and qualifications in one's speech so as to avoid committing one's self to anything definite.

A mechanical attachment, usually a metallic socket with a screw thread, such as the mechanism by which a camera is attached to a tripod stand.

A fence formed by a row of closely planted shrubs or bushes

A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored.

Any technique designed to reduce or eliminate financial risk; for example, taking two positions that will offset each other if prices change

(intransitive) To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.

An intentionally noncommittal or ambiguous statement;

To set bushes for; to support with bushes.

Avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues);

To use a bush harrow on (land), for covering seeds sown; to harrow with a bush.

Hinder or restrict with or as if with a hedge;

To become bushy (often used with up).

Enclose or bound in with or as it with a hedge or hedges;

(transitive) To furnish with a bush or lining; to line.

Minimize loss or risk;

(Australia) Towards the direction of the outback.

(colloquial) Not skilled; not professional; not major league.

A thicket, or place abounding in trees or shrubs; a wild forest.

A shrub; esp., a shrub with branches rising from or near the root; a thick shrub or a cluster of shrubs.

A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree; as, bushes to support pea vines.

A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (as sacred to Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern itself.

The tail, or brush, of a fox.

A lining for a hole to make it smaller; a thimble or ring of metal or wood inserted in a plate or other part of machinery to receive the wear of a pivot or arbor.

A piece of copper, screwed into a gun, through which the venthole is bored.

To branch thickly in the manner of a bush.

To set bushes for; to support with bushes; as, to bush peas.

To use a bush harrow on (land), for covering seeds sown; to harrow with a bush; as, to bush a piece of land; to bush seeds into the ground.

To furnish with a bush, or lining; as, to bush a pivot hole.

A low woody perennial plant usually having several major branches

A large wilderness area

Dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes

43rd President of the United States; son of George Herbert Walker Bush (born in 1946)

United States electrical engineer who designed an early analogue computer and who led the scientific program of the United States during World War II (1890-1974)

Vice President under Reagan and 41st President of the United States (born in 1924)

Hair growing in the pubic area

Provide with a bushing

Not of the highest quality or sophistication

For more privacy, wind protection, or to define property boundaries.

A hedge is used as a functional barrier, while a bush is primarily decorative.

Bushes enhance biodiversity by providing habitat and food for wildlife.

Hedges provide structure and formality, while bushes add natural beauty and variety.

Yes, bushes can be used to form hedges if planted in lines and maintained to intertwine.

Hedges require more frequent trimming to maintain shape, whereas bushes are less demanding.

Common hedge plants include boxwood, yew, and privet.

Absolutely, they can complement each other in a balanced landscape design.

Popular bushes include hydrangeas, azaleas, and rhododendrons.

Yes, hedges generally cost more to maintain due to their need for regular trimming.

Hedges can significantly alter wind and noise levels, more so than individual bushes.