What grows well with Hawthorn?

MoodyMand45

I have been researching to find an intruder deterring hedging that would grow in the shade of a 7 foot fence!

I have read that Quickthorn, Chinese barberry and Holly tick the boxes of being tolerant of shade and have tough thorns.

My concern though is that hawthorn is not evergreen and could have gaps in winter i wonder if an evergreen plant exists that could grow amongst the quickthorn to give privacy during winter.

I have crossed Pyracantha and Blackthorn off the list for being less shade tolerant.

Does anyone know the best options?

RAS

Berberis Julianae, certainly grows beneath sycamore trees locally.

MoodyMand45

RAS said:

Berberis Julianae, certainly grows beneath sycamore trees locally.

Yes, that is one of the possible options and i think it is evergreen although it might be slower growing than hawthorn.

Apodemus

A mixed holly and beech hedge gives a good mix of leaf retention/evergreen along with deterrent thorns and year-round interest.

MoodyMand45

Apodemus said:

A mixed holly and beech hedge gives a good mix of leaf retention/evergreen along with deterrent thorns and year-round interest.

Sounds like a good combination thanks!

Frank99

Although you ruled out Pyracantha a little bird told me that a version called Teton can grow in the shade!

Sapindus

If it's in the shade of a 7 foot fence, why do you need it to also provide privacy?  Surely the fence would provide that?

Holly and Beech would be quite slow growing.

Apodemus

Sapindus said:

If it's in the shade of a 7 foot fence, why do you need it to also provide privacy?  Surely the fence would provide that?

Holly and Beech would be quite slow growing.

I think the OP specified security rather than privacy.  I can relate to this as "our" fence (technically it's actually the Council's fence!) gets repeatedly broken from the other side, and it is the hedge on our side that provides the real security.

Yes, Holly and beech can be slow growing but worth it in the end.  I'm not convinced that speed and quality really go together in hedges (as in so many other things).

SootySweep1

Hi
I accept that Hawthorn isn't evergreen but it does form quite a dense hedge that you wouldn't climb through !

However another thing about Hawthorn is the blossom in the spring & berries in the autumn which are beautiful 

Jen

Farway

SootySweep1 said:

Hi
I accept that Hawthorn isn't evergreen but it does form quite a dense hedge that you wouldn't climb through !

However another thing about Hawthorn is the blossom in the spring & berries in the autumn which are beautiful 

Jen

Agree and there are some hawthorns with reddish blossom just to break it up, plus all parts including the leaves are edible but DYOR before scoffing a plateful, I know as a nipper we used to eat the leaves, which for some reason we called "bread & cheese" and bore no relation in taste or texture to that, berries good for making jam / jelly as well but not something I've tried