Edible hedge

[ANewDawnANewDay]

I have space at the back for a hedge so am thinking of an edible one - cherry plums, crab apple, hazel.
Anyone got one? What should I be thinking of?

Yes ,lovely ,we have a semi wild 'living' fence\hedge and just accept what decides to self seed so plenty of blackberries and plums, ( I suppose you need to think about your soil first) you can buy no prickle brambles, loganberries etc. raspberries and currants would be lovely , if you're in the sun most of the day.

There's a few trees in the garden behind so not full sun. Medium shade and some sun. Not sure of the soil type - chalky I think

You can tell if you (or the neighbours) have rhodies that are happy, if not you're probably chalky. Which is like ours.

You could have a sort of wood. It's tricky if you have heavily leaved deciduous or pine trees. I think most fruit trees need full sun.

Is you area facing south?

Yes, it's south facing. The trees are sycamore - I think. They are massive but don't overhang. So the hedge would get some sun.
We already have a couple of blackthorns (I think) which are overgrown and flowering now. And next doors have some hazel which looks to be thriving.

Crab apple prefers to be a tree, I don't know how it would react to being trimmed as a hedge. Blackthorn, yes for sloe gin, also roses for hips (rose hip syrup and jelly), hazel is easy in a hedge. Damsons.

Cherry plums are pretty prolific and Japanese wine berries are also attractive

Currant bushes can get pretty big if you don't prune them too much, and have nice flowers too.

You could train things like beans, peas, mangetout up a hedge too.

Elderflower could work too, though you would have to fight off the pigeons if you wanted to make elderflower wine.

I've been thinking about Juneberries for our front hedge. I've got no experience of them but they look interesting; www.rhsplants.co.uk/plants/_/amelanchier-lamarckii/classid.2000021003/

I'm thinking about a Honeyberry bush, they are like blueberries but don't need acidic soil! They grow really well in Russia and Canada so really hardy. Apparently you need a couple of that specific type in order for pollination to happen.

Oh yes elder trees are lovely and make good hedges, they grow fast, I love ours, we use it for shade on our terrace, I make a syrup with the berries in the autumn. it's great for colds. You could plant a dark coloured one for an alternative, they're really beautiful.

Can I suggest looking at habitat aid? They have a great selection of native hedging, including fruit and nut producing hedges. We've put in lots of their native mix last year and their kitchen hedge bundle just this autumn and it looks really healthy. Can't wait for it to burst into life!

Hedges direct were very good at supplying what I needed to add in to our newly laid hedge which was previously all hawthorn.

Added beech, hornbeam, hazel, wild cherry, amelanchier, holly. Am going to add crab apple too when I find some I like. There are plenty of cultivars that stay small or don't grow too fast