Cotoneaster or totally different hedging?

shegirl

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

http://www.pomonafruits.co.uk/hedging-plants/edible-hedging-mix-18-plants

Edible hedging all the way...

Out of interest,as I love this idea,do you have any idea what size these would grow to and how fast they grow?What size area would they be best for?

I'm almost sold!

Sambucus_Nigra

shegirl wrote: »

Out of interest,as I love this idea,do you have any idea what size these would grow to and how fast they grow?What size area would they be best for?

I'm almost sold!

All 3 would grow as big as you let them; but they will be fine for hedging...18 at 2 ft apart will cover 34 feet. Not sure how fast they grow as it depends on light, soil etc; but give Pomona a call and see what they say.

We are taking out holly and box at one of my gardens and putting these all in - can't wait!

ladylouise62

I have experience of the cherry plum - it's very resilient, and grows back quickly if you've had to cut back hard to shape it. What I would say though, is that if y are keeping it cut back as a hedge then you will get little fruit, unlike the bit that I have allowed to grow into a tree which is always laden with plums.

shegirl

ladylouise62 wrote: »

I have experience of the cherry plum - it's very resilient, and grows back quickly if you've had to cut back hard to shape it. What I would say though, is that if y are keeping it cut back as a hedge then you will get little fruit, unlike the bit that I have allowed to grow into a tree which is always laden with plums.

Yeah,figured there wouldn't be as much fruit using it as a hedge but still some!

I'd love loads of trees but it won't be happening lol

shegirl

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

All 3 would grow as big as you let them; but they will be fine for hedging...18 at 2 ft apart will cover 34 feet. Not sure how fast they grow as it depends on light, soil etc; but give Pomona a call and see what they say.

We are taking out holly and box at one of my gardens and putting these all in - can't wait!

I think I will give them a call

I'd never considered Hazel for hedging and I love catkins so that would be another bonus for me!Anything that'll tempt squirrels is good too!

Nice colours for autumn too

blossomhill_2

Leif wrote: »

I popped into a local garden centre out of curiosity and picked up a C. franchetii, grows to 3m apparently, spread of 3m. It looks rather nice, semi-evergreen, berries round winter, no thorns. I think the birds will approve. And it will fill that hole at the side. How fast does it grow? Hopefully a foot a year.

It might be a bit pricey for a long hedge given that I bought 45 bare root Ligustrum ovalifolium (privet) for £45, whereas this was £4 for one plant.

Find someone who has one and ask for some berries - I've got this and have strarted putting pots of compost under the hedge each Autumn, in Spring they are pots of sapling trees about 6 inches high which I sell on for 50p a pot on a charity stall

Not sure about wanting to attract squirrels shegirl ... be careful what you wish for ... nice to watch in the woods but since I got my hazel they have stripped all the rose buds off one of my climbing roses each year and the bark off my birch that was chosen for its special bark, dug deep holes in my lawn, dug out my bulbs, dug out my lavender cuttings, taken my young pears and cherries (and now my apples) and worst of all, the birds eggs and baby birds from the nests, the pebble dash off the house, lifted the roof tiles and got into the loft, and are now working on the chimney pot mortar ... and haven't left me a single hazel nut ... I could go on

blossomhill_2

PS If you want edibles as a hedge you could do what I've done - cheapy £3 fruit trees from Lidl (mine were woolies) and cut out the leader branch, train the side shoots along a broomstick - I've got 3 next to eahc other and have joined the broomsticks together so i have a nice long run at shoulder height and now I get apples along the length of it at a nice height to pick, and its a good screen for the compost bins - actually the squirrels have ignored these so maybe they are a good idea in more ways than one
Just prune the new shoots back to finger length in about August for next years fruit