By Larry Rutter

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

For four generations, Larry Marken’s family has cared for the Osage orange hedgerow fence that grows on their farm like a treasure.

Marken’s great-grandfather planted the hedge, which stretches a quarter mile along Button Road in northern Shawnee County, in the early 1880s. The hedge is now a one-of-a-kind living artifact because most hedge fences disappeared long ago from the Kansas farm landscape. Barbed wire pushed out the maintenance-intense hedge rows in the late 19th century.

In the heyday of hedges, farmers described a good hedge fence as “horse high, hog tight and bull strong,” because horses could not jump the hedge at a normal height of 4 to 5 feet, hogs could not root through the woven stems and the prize bull had difficulty passing through the horns.

Osage orange hedge is a common name for the species whose Latin name is Maclura pomifera. Many people will know the hedge for the sharp thorns that cover the branches. The common name is derived from the Native-American Osage people who lived in the area where hedge is native and the orange shape of the leaf, its texture and the orange color of the mature softball-size fruit it produces.

Today, most Kansas think of hedges as an urban, aesthetic feature in landscaping. However, in early Kansas, live hedges were used extensively for fencing because of the lack of timber in the plains region. Hedges were even important enough to be mentioned in state law. The Kansas legislature passed a law in 1867 providing financially strapped farmers $2 for every 40 rods of hedge as an incentive for growing the live fences. In 1882, Shawnee County reported more than 300,000 rods of hedge fence in use, the equivalent of more than 900 miles. The U.S. Department of Agriculture determined in 1939 that approximately 40,000 miles of hedge fence graced the Kansas landscape between 1865 and the years just prior to World War II.

Marken, who recently retired after 30 years as a biology teacher at Topeka High School, still maintains the hedge fence with traditional methods. He uses a well-worn corn knife to trim and prune the hedge, rather than relying on faster power tools. The hedge requires trimming 7 or 8 times each growing season, but Marken says trimming it by hand connects him to his family legacy.

The hedge on Marken’s farm has remains healthy, despite some gaps in the hedge caused by automobiles that didn’t quite stay on Button Road. Marken is worried increased traffic on road might provoke the Shawnee County Roads Department to widen the right-of-way and knock down the hedge.

Larry Rutter, of rural Meriden, is retired from the Kansas State Historical Society and has devoted his time to researching the Osage orange hedge. He has prepared a slide show for organizations interested in playing host to a program.

By Larry Rutter

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

For four generations, Larry Marken’s family has cared for the Osage orange hedgerow fence that grows on their farm like a treasure.

Marken’s great-grandfather planted the hedge, which stretches a quarter mile along Button Road in northern Shawnee County, in the early 1880s. The hedge is now a one-of-a-kind living artifact because most hedge fences disappeared long ago from the Kansas farm landscape. Barbed wire pushed out the maintenance-intense hedge rows in the late 19th century.

In the heyday of hedges, farmers described a good hedge fence as “horse high, hog tight and bull strong,” because horses could not jump the hedge at a normal height of 4 to 5 feet, hogs could not root through the woven stems and the prize bull had difficulty passing through the horns.

Osage orange hedge is a common name for the species whose Latin name is Maclura pomifera. Many people will know the hedge for the sharp thorns that cover the branches. The common name is derived from the Native-American Osage people who lived in the area where hedge is native and the orange shape of the leaf, its texture and the orange color of the mature softball-size fruit it produces.

Today, most Kansas think of hedges as an urban, aesthetic feature in landscaping. However, in early Kansas, live hedges were used extensively for fencing because of the lack of timber in the plains region. Hedges were even important enough to be mentioned in state law. The Kansas legislature passed a law in 1867 providing financially strapped farmers $2 for every 40 rods of hedge as an incentive for growing the live fences. In 1882, Shawnee County reported more than 300,000 rods of hedge fence in use, the equivalent of more than 900 miles. The U.S. Department of Agriculture determined in 1939 that approximately 40,000 miles of hedge fence graced the Kansas landscape between 1865 and the years just prior to World War II.

Marken, who recently retired after 30 years as a biology teacher at Topeka High School, still maintains the hedge fence with traditional methods. He uses a well-worn corn knife to trim and prune the hedge, rather than relying on faster power tools. The hedge requires trimming 7 or 8 times each growing season, but Marken says trimming it by hand connects him to his family legacy.

The hedge on Marken’s farm has remains healthy, despite some gaps in the hedge caused by automobiles that didn’t quite stay on Button Road. Marken is worried increased traffic on road might provoke the Shawnee County Roads Department to widen the right-of-way and knock down the hedge.

Larry Rutter, of rural Meriden, is retired from the Kansas State Historical Society and has devoted his time to researching the Osage orange hedge. He has prepared a slide show for organizations interested in playing host to a program.

By Larry Rutter

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

For four generations, Larry Marken’s family has cared for the Osage orange hedgerow fence that grows on their farm like a treasure.

Marken’s great-grandfather planted the hedge, which stretches a quarter mile along Button Road in northern Shawnee County, in the early 1880s. The hedge is now a one-of-a-kind living artifact because most hedge fences disappeared long ago from the Kansas farm landscape. Barbed wire pushed out the maintenance-intense hedge rows in the late 19th century.

In the heyday of hedges, farmers described a good hedge fence as “horse high, hog tight and bull strong,” because horses could not jump the hedge at a normal height of 4 to 5 feet, hogs could not root through the woven stems and the prize bull had difficulty passing through the horns.

Osage orange hedge is a common name for the species whose Latin name is Maclura pomifera. Many people will know the hedge for the sharp thorns that cover the branches. The common name is derived from the Native-American Osage people who lived in the area where hedge is native and the orange shape of the leaf, its texture and the orange color of the mature softball-size fruit it produces.

Today, most Kansas think of hedges as an urban, aesthetic feature in landscaping. However, in early Kansas, live hedges were used extensively for fencing because of the lack of timber in the plains region. Hedges were even important enough to be mentioned in state law. The Kansas legislature passed a law in 1867 providing financially strapped farmers $2 for every 40 rods of hedge as an incentive for growing the live fences. In 1882, Shawnee County reported more than 300,000 rods of hedge fence in use, the equivalent of more than 900 miles. The U.S. Department of Agriculture determined in 1939 that approximately 40,000 miles of hedge fence graced the Kansas landscape between 1865 and the years just prior to World War II.

Marken, who recently retired after 30 years as a biology teacher at Topeka High School, still maintains the hedge fence with traditional methods. He uses a well-worn corn knife to trim and prune the hedge, rather than relying on faster power tools. The hedge requires trimming 7 or 8 times each growing season, but Marken says trimming it by hand connects him to his family legacy.

The hedge on Marken’s farm has remains healthy, despite some gaps in the hedge caused by automobiles that didn’t quite stay on Button Road. Marken is worried increased traffic on road might provoke the Shawnee County Roads Department to widen the right-of-way and knock down the hedge.

Larry Rutter, of rural Meriden, is retired from the Kansas State Historical Society and has devoted his time to researching the Osage orange hedge. He has prepared a slide show for organizations interested in playing host to a program.