{"id":6787,"date":"2016-09-28T15:56:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T18:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lawnstarter.wpengine.com\/?p=6787"},"modified":"2017-03-11T16:40:15","modified_gmt":"2017-03-11T19:40:15","slug":"build-the-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawnstarter.com\/blog\/landscaping\/build-the-wall\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would It Cost to Build a Privacy Hedge — Instead of a Wall — Along the U.S.-Mexico Border?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By now, you\u2019ve repeatedly heard Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump touting his plan to <\/span>build a wall<\/span> along the U.S.-Mexico border to boost security.<\/span><\/p>

The U.S. shares a 1,989-mile border with its southern neighbor, but Trump has said the wall needs to be only 1,000 miles long thanks to existing natural barriers. A 1,000-mile concrete wall would cost anywhere from $8 billion to $12 billion to build, according to Trump, while a report from research firm <\/span>AllianceBernstein<\/span><\/a> puts the price tag as high as $25 billion.<\/span><\/p>

\"Donald<\/a><\/p>

Donald Trump wants to build a 1,000-mile concrete wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
<\/strong>Photo: Flickr\/Michael Vadon<\/a><\/em><\/p>

A Cheaper \u2018Wall\u2019<\/h3>

Here at LawnStarter, we\u2019re obsessed with all things landscaping, so we wondered how much it would cost to put up a 1,000-mile-long privacy hedge along the border instead of a concrete wall.<\/span><\/p>

A hedge \u201cwall\u201d certainly wouldn\u2019t be as much of a deterrent as a concrete wall, but it\u2019d definitely be prettier. As it turns out, a 1,000-mile privacy hedge along the U.S.-Mexico border also would be much cheaper than a concrete wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Based on a rough\u00a0estimate of $200 per linear foot, a 1,000-mile privacy hedge would cost about $1.05 billion — just 4 percent of the highest price tag for the concrete wall. The estimate\u00a0of $200 per linear square foot includes material (namely the hedges) and labor\u00a0(for planting the greenery).<\/span><\/p>

\"Big<\/a><\/p>

The U.S.-Mexico border cuts through Big Bend National Park in Texas.
<\/strong>Photo: Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>

Natural Border?<\/h3>

Ashley Gregory, a horticulture agent with the <\/span>Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service<\/span><\/a> in Texas\u2019 Rio Grande Valley border region, thinks it\u2019s possible to create a border \u201cwall\u201d — at a fraction of the cost of the Trump wall\u00a0— from native trees or shrubs such as:<\/span><\/p>