Native British Hedging

[nightshade]

It is just possible that a few people here will be considering
putting a wildlife hedge in over this winter.
A mixed hedge of Native bare root plants staggered at 6-8
plants per mtr will give a nice thick hedge to provide habitat
for birds and insects or a straight unstaggered run of about
double that for the same 6-8 plants
Hawthorn,Dogwood,Alder,Dogrose,Blackthorn,Hazel,Sp indle
and Field Maple are eminently suitable
The Sparrows will bless you for them

[Jez]

I decided to make a native Hedge Last Feb! I chose Purging Buckthorn,Sweet Briar,Dog Wood,Hazel, Hornbeam,cherry Plum, Small leaved Lime, and wild cherry. I managed to do one half of whats needed so will be at it again come October. Was thinking of beech, Alder Buckthorn and field Maple. All of these are gap fillers inbetween very spread out Hawthorn which looked very sparse!

[Gaz-W]

Cheers, me and the girlfriend were planning on building one this winter but I didn't know where I would find out which plants were indigenous, so your post should prove invaluable when we start it I also wanted to put some gooseberry in the hedge, would that work as a hedging plant?

[C C]

Originally Posted by Jez

I decided to make a native Hedge Last Feb! I chose Purging Buckthorn,Sweet Briar,Dog Wood,Hazel, Hornbeam,cherry Plum, Small leaved Lime, and wild cherry. I managed to do one half of whats needed so will be at it again come October. Was thinking of beech, Alder Buckthorn and field Maple. All of these are gap fillers inbetween very spread out Hawthorn which looked very sparse!

I like the variety
The Cherry plum / Myrobalan, in my books - is a good un. It is the earliest European flowering tree. This offers those early inverts a food source. Also the Bullfinch loves the flowers, gives them something till the Willows start to show. And of course you have the fruit.

[Jez]

Originally Posted by C C

I like the variety
The Cherry plum / Myrobalan, in my books - is a good un. It is the earliest European flowering tree. This offers those early inverts a food source. Also the Bullfinch loves the flowers, gives them something till the Willows start to show. And of course you have the fruit.

That's if the Finches don't get them first!

[Pagan_Dave]

I planted a row of Hawthorn in my front garden under my front window earlier in the year, they are doing ok apart from aphids getting their grubby mits on them during the summer and had to prune the tops of them, but they should look good when they get a big bigger.

[Jez]

Originally Posted by nightshade

It is just possible that a few people here will be considering
putting a wildlife hedge in over this winter.
A mixed hedge of Native bare root plants staggered at 6-8
plants per mtr will give a nice thick hedge to provide habitat
for birds and insects or a straight unstaggered run of about
double that for the same 6-8 plants
Hawthorn,Dogwood,Alder,Dogrose,Blackthorn,Hazel,Sp indle
and Field Maple are eminently suitable
The Sparrows will bless you for them

Hi Nightshade can i quizz you on hedging? I would like to know how many years does it take for the young trees to mature into a decent hedge-Cheers Jez.

[nightshade]

I planted mine about three years ago,the rate of growth suprised me
I would have angled the plants(if I had thought about it) to make an
initially denser hedge but provided you prune for a bushy growth you
should have a reasonable cover in the second season

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Jez

I decided to make a native Hedge Last Feb! I chose Purging Buckthorn,Sweet Briar,Dog Wood,Hazel, Hornbeam,cherry Plum, Small leaved Lime, and wild cherry. I managed to do one half of whats needed so will be at it again come October. Was thinking of beech, Alder Buckthorn and field Maple. All of these are gap fillers inbetween very spread out Hawthorn which looked very sparse!

For those with heavier soils Hornbeam may be a good alternative to Beech.

CM

[Jez]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I planted mine about three years ago,the rate of growth suprised me
I would have angled the plants(if I had thought about it) to make an
initially denser hedge but provided you prune for a bushy growth you
should have a reasonable cover in the second season

Thanks for letting me know. I have zigzagged the hedging trying to achieve denser growth. Am i write in thinking that it should be pruned every three years?

[paulchandler6]

I planted Hawthorn as a hedge 25+ years ago. The 1st 10 metres or so I keep pruned to about .75m wide and 2 m high and I prune twice a year. It stays quite thick. The rest I have left and is now about 6m tall and is a good spot for song posts and is usually the 1st stop for birds arriving in the garden.
I also now have Dog Rose, Elder, Plum, spindel and a currant of some description growing as part of the hedgerow which has helped in thickening it up, and it provides a good corridor for birds moving up the garden and a refuge from predators.

Paul