I am going to plant a lovely mixed hedge - what have I forgotten to include?

[SarahAndQuack]

I have a boundary between my land and the local primary school, which is currently marked by a fence. I would like a little more privacy, not least because DD now attends the school, so whenever I go into that bit of the garden, she can see me and shrieks!

I want to plant a mixed hedge, ideally with native trees (I'd vary it a bit if an alternative were particularly gorgeous). I want it as a good habitat and a decorative thing, rather than just to make a fast-growing barrier. And because there's a school on the other side, I mostly don't want it too prickly, though there's a patch where a few prickly things could be. I'm thinking:

• hawthorn
• blackthorn
• smooth-leaf holly
• elder
• guelder rose
• rowan
• beech
• crabapple?
• golden hop (yes, I know, not native and it might just swamp everything, but they are so pretty!)

What do you think? And do you have any tips for hedges? I know how to lay a hedge, but I've never had to establish one from scratch and don't know which things might out-compete others.

I’m thinking of planting a hedge, both for privacy and for wildlife so this is very helpful.

I like evergreen hedges and most of your choices are deciduous. I've had a lot of the plants listed but I'm tired of hedges that fight back when trimmed. Currently growing small elaeagnus to replace my thorny hedges.

Fuschia magellania - probably not the fuschia we have but that likes moist.

@Ialwayssteamveg - yay! We can experiment together.

@anyolddinosaur - yes, it's mostly deciduous because I'm keen on making it wildlife-friendly and pretty, and less fussed about it being a strong barrier. I think (hope!) I won't mind cutting it too much. I may be being naive!

Photinia Red Robin is another non native hedging plant that has some wildlife benefit.

Sounds lovely we did similar but I wouldn't do blackthorn again, the thorns are lethal!!

I got a grant from the Woodland Trust for 80% of the cost of my mixed native hedge. I planted it in January and it's managed to withstand the drought w had this summer.

If you don't want them to supply the right mix of trees you could look at their website to see what they recommend?

Don't forget the deer and rabbit guards.

"Pyracanthus - lovely berries"

Only if you hate children ! Rivals berberis in the "quite pretty but evil" prickly stakes.
Same concerns as a PP about the sucker growth from blackthorn- the blossom is beautiful and sloe gin is fab but the thorns are vicious- I knew a farmer client blinded in one eye by a blackthorn and I pulled some whoppers out of the feet of the lambs and ewes this year.

Damson or bullace not evil but will still throw up sucker growth. How about planting a couple of Victoria Plum in the hedge?

Dog rose less prickly than guelder rose, it xan ve vicious stuff.

DH suggests a Scots Pine or two let grow in the hedge depending on size/ proximity to houses etc. Such pretty bark.

Spindle is native and pretty but the berries are poisonous.

Liquid amber? Non native but pretty.

Wow! How did the grant work, if you don't mind me asking?

I did look at their website, and others, before I posted - but will of course keep looking and thinking.

We've got deer/rabbit guards around the whole site, which the previous owners put in - they are very ugly lengths of corrugated aluminium, and we removed some when we moved here, but not around this bit of the garden. If we got the hedge established, do you think we'd be ok to remove the guards?

Thorny hedges are a pain when they get established enough to put on a foot a year, not too bad when small. Berberis darwinii is so pretty it almost makes up for the thorns.

When most people think "wildlife friendly" they think of berries - but birds like something nice and dense to nest in too.

Cotoneaster, birds love it. Lots of bright berries that that last though the winter until decimated by the birds.

@powershowerforanhour - yes, I'm not tempted by pyracanthus! Victoria plum might be nice, or maybe I'll try a greengage (I've no idea how that would work). I grew up in a garden with hedges that included blackthorn and I had no idea how deadly it was until this thread!

I love dog roses so could be tempted - or I might cheat with something like Rambling Rector. I do like the idea of the pines, but I'd envisage keeping the hedge quite low, so probably not suitable. I had been wondering about spindleberries! They are so pretty. I didn't know they were poisonous, though. I agree liquid amber is gorgeous, but I think it might be out of budget!

I don't want the majority of the hedge to be very thorny, because it's against a school. I am not really expecting it to be fully of birds' nests, for the same reason (though, I am always amazed by the number of birds that do nest in the school grounds or right up against the school - they have a healthy colony of house martins). I do want it to be a good habitat, so I want things that flower at the right times for bees and other insects, and for birds who are feeding rather than nesting. That's why I mostly don't want just your standard 'planting for a city roundabout' of privet and photinia and berberis - I'm trying to go for things that, if they're not native/long-established, will have the same kinds of benefits.

OP, this was the scheme I used: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/trees-for-landowners-and-farmers/morehedges/

They provided the tree guards as well. We have a lot of rabbits and deer near us and the advice is to protect the saplings for the first 3 years.

Buddleia? It's technically a shrub, but can grow to 8-10 feet high.

Do you have deer? If so, you need to protect the hedge for several years to come. In the past 10 days red deer here have eaten lots of Rosa Rugsa, lots of Fuchsia Malleganica and other Fuchsia species, some Snowberry (Symphoricarpos), some holly, some tall sunflowers (grown for seed for the birds) and some kale , and have also devoured anything remotely edible in the compost heap, including cast-off/rotting bits of red peppers and courgettes.
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Remains of roses etc now netted, but this does not look pretty. Deer - including magnificent stag - still roam around, looking for something to nibble. They don't eat honeysuckle, in my experience, but tend to be very keen on most other young trees/shrubs. But what you need to protect and how you do it will very much depend on where you live. If you're spending money on lovely new plants, it really is also worth organising proper protection for them. Best of luck.

What a lovely project :)

I have lots of elder in my garden as it spreads in from the alleyway behind my garden, under the tarmac alleyway path. It’s voracious! It’s very pretty when it flowers in the summer though. I’m always filling up my garden bin with it. To get rid of new plants I have to chop it right down to the ground and cover the stump in a black bag to stop it coming back. It was very resistant to the drought over the summer - that might be another aspect to consider in your planning.

Thank you! I will look at that.

I think it is probably safe from deer and rabbits at the moment; guess I will try removing the ugly metal fences three years after I plant, and cross my fingers!

@scottishnames - gosh, that sounds frustrating! I read your post thinking how exciting it'd be to keep seeing deer up close, but I am sure the excitement soon fades.

I have never seen deer on our land - I think they are deterred by the metal fencing. I know there are deer in the woods very nearby, which come onto the field behind us. And there are rabbits all around, but, again, they've been put off our land by the metal fences. I don't love the fences because I'm aware they also stop hedgehogs from coming in, and we'd like those.

I am hoping not to spend too much money - I don't mind trying to grow some things from gathered seed, and others I will try to graft, if I can.

@Iwritethissittinginthekitchensink - yes, you're not the only one who thinks I'm mad to introduce elder! But ... it is so pretty! And so useful!

Insects like lots of flowers close together - so elder, buddleia, but also things like heather (most popular plant in our garden) and hylotelephium (ice plant) and michaelmas daises. Escallonia is popular too. Birds like - and eat - the insects.

Prickles, the lovely OP of the hedgehog thread, shared a link to the PTES who champion hedgerows for wildlife.

Hornbeam and hazel, and as PP said, dog rose.

I'm considering a hedge at the front of my house for wildlife and privacy. I currently have one at the side with pyracanthus, Hawthorn and something I can't identify!

Am thinking Holly, copper beech, Hawthorn and some rose. Will go and investigate the wildlife trust and mixed bundles.

I also want a low growing hedge or shrubbery unde the front window as the previous occupants pulled everything put and just filled the bed with gravel and it looks grim. Was considering rosemary and dwarf ceanothus, but haven't decided yet.

I know it's not native, and can sucker, but lilac (syringa), if it's already been mentioned then I second it. Lovely scented flowers that come in for the insects before the buddleia.

Perhaps consider ivy...I know, but it's evergreen providing roosting site for birds and bats and hibernation site for insects. It flowers very late in the year, good for insects, is a food plant for the beautiful Holly blue and others, and can have berries when everything else has been eaten. Can be a bit of a thug though, needs to be allowed to grow enough to flower but kept a careful eye on.

Just so you know all parts of the elderberry are poisonous until berries are cooked and the new buds on beech are extremely sharp. I nearly lost the sight in my left eye from a jab from one of them.
I would worry about thorns and berries on the border with a school.
What about Birch( if not near pipes as they have questing roots) Portugal laurel, Escallonia, larger Hebe, Forsythia, Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price' (scented) Sumac for brilliant autumn colour, Cornus Azara or an upright Ceanothus.

I'd put a damson in instead of blackthorn. And a rowan, if you have space.