Patent ID: 8479442

Claim:
A system comprising a vertically oriented growing plant, rooted in soil, with an above-ground portion of the plant placed within a device comprising: a first removable shaping element consisting of a flat, light permeable, plate extending in a straight plane, and a second removable shaping element consisting of a flat, light permeable, plate extending in a straight plane, wherein the first removable shaping element and the second removable shaping element are arranged approximately parallel to each other between 0.5 centimeters and 100 centimeters apart, forming a growth space for the plant located between the first removable shaping element and the second removable shaping element, and wherein the first removable shaping element and the second removable shaping element limit the plant's growth to the growth space, allowing the plant to expand only sideways, upwardly, and downwardly along the removable shaping elements, thereby causing the plant to assume a flat shape with little depth suitable for use as a narrow hedge or privacy shield.