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Knitting a hedge
Good afternoon,
as the people on this forum helped me ot so quickly with my last question, I was wondering if I could try another one please.
Bear in mind I am completely new at gardening. On the far side of my garden, I am keen to plant a hedge that is a bit different from the privet surrounding the rest. Several nurseries I have come across offer mixed hedges, which looks really interesting.
I notice that a lot of the mixed hedges include quickthorn, which one nursery says is used to 'knit the hedge together'.
As I am a curious fellow, I can't help but wonder how one knits a hedge. What is it the quickthorn does exactly? And are there any other plants that have the same 'knitting' effect please?
Thank you very much for your help.
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Quickthorn is a kind of Prunus and its fruit is Sloe. It is said to knit a hedge together because it grows quickly, suckers like mad and as it has thorns it grabs on the other shrubs in the mix. Personally I would not grow it in an urban situation because of its prickliness, unless you need an intruder proof barrier.
Same applies to Hawthorn and Pyracantha.
Any fast growing shrub will soon make a dense hedge.
I understand Quickthorn as hawthorn and I think it's much better for hedging than Blackthorn (the one with the sloes) because it doesn't sucker all over your garden.
Common names are a bit of a trap. They mean different things to different people, Crataegus mongyna, which I call hawthorn, is what you want as the main plant in a mixed hedge.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Just as a matter of interest - how do you cut a hedge with hawthorn in it? I have such a hedge and it proved almost impossible for me to cut it with the hedge trimmers and I got torn to bits. In recent years I have given up and got the hedgeman in to do it.
Quickthorn is hawthorn to me too and is an excellent hedging plant, grows quickly and densely and is very good for wildlife, flowers for pollinating insects and lots of nice red berries in the autumn once it's established for the birds. In my experience when you buy so called "mixed hedging" it contains about 50% hawthorn which is just about right, I think. I agree with the comments re blackthorn. It is best suited for a tall thick hedge, but there will probably be a few in a mixed hedge mix. How long is the hedge you plan to plant? Now, up until the end of March, is the best time to plant bare rooted hedging and there are some good bargains around now.
I agree that Quickthorn is another name for native hawthorn. It's a brilliant plant in a mixed hedge.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I spent a day coppiceing hazel at a woodland trust site (cut my own beanpoles & pea sticks). There was a hedging expert there cutting poles as well. He said avoid Blackthorn as it suckers so profusely & then when I did the RHS course they said that Blackthorn is the overwinter plant of Black bean Aphid. So Hawthorn is definitely the one to go for.
What, no Sloe Gin?!
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Whoops, sorry I misread it as Blackthorn. Should not read these things with the wrong glasses (or after emptying full glasses).
Still say the same though, I would not use any thorned plant for a hedge unless it was to keep intruders out. We have 60 feet of Hawthorn hedge and it is a beggar to cut and remove the debris.
Wow. Thank you very much for all your answers.
Seeing as you clearly know your stuff, perhaps you could give me some suggestions?
The hedge will be about 35 metres long, and only about the last 3 metres will border another garden (currently neglected). The remainder will border a stretch of wasteland that leads to a trainline. So no need to worry about the other side or pedestrian traffic. I suspect it will be neglected on the other side altogether. Putting it up for security purposes would be a bit daft though, as at the next side, next to the foot path, will be privet.
I must confess I like the idea of plants that produce food - not so much for myself but for the wildlife it might attract. I also like the idea of a hedge that will keep some or all of its integrity in winter, so I can't see the trains. Obviously I wouldn't want to mess with any knitting patterns either.
I am currently removing the last bits of obstruction, so I can plant the hedges before the end of March, so would love some ideas to research. Thank you all.
This might be what you are looking for:
http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/product_10798.html
You could add extra holly to make it less open in winter. I have used this company and the plants were good quality. I have no personal interest in them apart from having bought from them.
Last edited: 27 February 2017 19:51:53