Is it worth keeping our hawthorn hedge?

[chillipickle]

The end of our garden has a hawthorn hedge of sorts, but it's very gappy and has nettles mixed in. Up to now there has been a greenhouse in front of it, but now that's going to be moved.

The garden is sloping and not huge, so to avoid our small children running into the prickly/nettly area, and to give us more privacy (the garden backs on to public land and people can see straight through the huge holes in it), we initially planned to get rid of the hedge and fence across the end of the garden instead.

However I've just had a visit from a very keen gardener friend who said if it was hers, she would absolutely keep the hawthorn, and just thicken it up by planting in between or get someone in to lay it properly. She also has small children, and is of the opinion that they will soon learn to avoid prickly stuff.

I can see her point in some ways. In principle I am all in favour of some native hedgerow to encourage wildlife, and I agree it would be nicer to look at than panel fencing, and good for security too. On the other hand, it takes up a couple of feet of garden, and privacy wouldn't be great in winter when it loses its leaves. I also have no idea how much maintenance a hawthorn hedge would need.

Any opinions/advice will be very welcome.

Get someone to layer it for you, and you'll have a dense hedge soon, and so good for wildlife. You should be able to cut it right back so you end up with a thinner hedge, with the berries in winter. They are not high maintenance.

I feel nostalgic for hawthorn hedges. There are quite a lot of hawthorn trees/bushes in rural Victoria, but no hedges that I've ever seen.

I was utterly charmed to see three sulphur-crested cockatoos scoffing the berries last week.

I would keep it too

Yes, I'd get someone in to layer it, to rejuvenate it. Depending on how big the gaps are, you could think about making it a mixed hedge by using something different in the gaps, if you so wished. You don't necessarily need something solid to create privacy - if something breaks up the lines sufficiently, you don't really 'see' what's behind it (think Venetian blinds).

I would interplant it also, hawthorn is a good deterent for intruders.
Re children, mine know not to touch the spikey bushes, nettles etc.

I've got a mixed hedge - hawthorn and blackthorn are the basis but over the last few years I've been filling in the gaps with other things - beech, hornbeam, hazel, spindle and a few non-native shrubs like viburnum. Most are only small atm but it has the makings of a lovely mixed hedge. I clip to the height I want 2x a year. Once the stems are about 2 inches thick I'll lay them (where you cut through most but not all of the trunk and fold it over to lie almost horizontally) then it will really thicken up.

Its a bit of a long term process though, definitely not a quick fix but much prettier and better for wildlife - I've got a blackbird's nest in the middle of mine at the moment.

Thanks all for your replies. I think I am persuaded of the benefits of hedging over fencing!

Chix, you have partially answered my next question, which is what else we could plant to fill the gaps, and how long it might take. In the long run, I would like it to be quite high - maybe 6 to 8 feet. The taller bits of the existing hawthorn are probably 5-6 feet in places, but very patchy indeed. Am I looking at a very long-term project? How long would it take to at least thicken up the lower bit, say up to 3-4 feet from the ground?

The harder you cut it back, the faster it regrows. Although the best time for pruning is in summer when it has finished flowering, you can do what the farmers do and cut it in autumn. Hawthorn grows very quickly and if you cut it close to the main stem it will send out lots of side shoots which then get pruned again after flowering.

I second/third the idea of interplanting after you have weeded it well, you could get some rosa glauca (best planted bare root in winter) which mix well with hawthorn and give you a "wild hedge".

I love the idea of having a hedge like that - and you can eat young hawthorn leaves in salads. I'd love a hazelnut hedge one day so I can harvest some of the nuts too.

Hope your plan of thickening it out goes well.

yy, get someone to lay it for you. It'll be amazing in a couple of years.

Go for the full on native hedge thing, add some other native hedging species and climbers. THe native clemitis (old mans beard?) is beautiful.

Ooh, put some blackthorn in and then you'll get beautiful blossom in the spring and then sloes in the autumn that you can use to make sloe vodka or gin. Yum.

Keep it, our hawthorn looks reasonable all year, don't think it does loose all it's leaves.

One word of warning, put down a tarpaulin to collect the trimmings if you have lawn right up to it.
The thorns go through crocs never mind bare feet.