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Fastest growing and tallest edible hedge?

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  • I'm not a fan of Elderberry (Sambucus niger) in a hedge, at least if there are any other species in it. The local park planted a hedge round their orchard - packs of hedging varieties that included just a few Elders. Fairly predictably, each year, the Elders are several times the size of everything else, shading out anything that tries to grow nearby. In a book about 'hedging' I was looking at, Elder was in the "Don't include this under any circumstances" list. Grows fast, stops other things from growing, and then (being short-lived) dies, leaving a gap. Since I volunteer-garden in the park, last year I sawed the elders down to near ground level, and bent some of the adjacent plants over the gaps. But I don't suppose this will hold back the elders for long...  Nothing against them when not in a hedge - there are plenty others in the park.
  • Loxley said:
    These comments are all so helpful - thank you! 

    Having heard all these thoughts I realise that what I want to focus on is something that I can plant in front of the wall that will he thin for the first metre of its height (so you can still see the wall) and then bushy after the first metre. 

    Perhaps more like a line of trees or bushes that merge together to give the privacy?

    Does anyone  have Ideas for that? 
    You could do something with pleached pears or apples
    See the source image

    You can do the same free-standing if you erect posts and wires and train the growth horizontally

    See the source image
    Wow! So dramatic and sculptural
  • Do you think grape vines would grow in Scotland ?
  • I planted an edible hedge - mix of hazel, apple, crab, damson, sea buckthorn and (somewhat randomly) mulberry. ...with climbers:  wineberry, thornless blackberry, grapevine, and fast, easily removable cover with nasturtiums. 
    -It gives that open 4' with privacy above, but only during the growing season
    -The damson died, the sea buckthorn are struggling, but everything else is doing well
    -My suggestion would be to only plant edible plants that you actually like eating (unless you're happy just looking at them - crabapples can be beautiful, for example)
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I put in native crabapple as a hedge but it's very gappy in the winter. Not a great idea.
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