Newbie gardener - hedging

Hi there fellow gardeners!

I have been interested in gardening for the last few years. And for the last year I have finally had my own house and garden so have been able to go crazy!

Anyway, I wanted to do something for the wildlife, so I went ahead and bought some native mixed hedging. I spent the weekend preparing the ground (that was most of the work), and planting about 40 hedging whips.

The mix was made up of approximately:
70% Quickthorn (Hawthorn)(Crataegus monogyna) and Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) & the balance made up of:
Common Alder (Alnus glutinosa),
Green Beech (Fagus sylvatica),
Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea),
English Oak (Quercus robur),
Dog Rose (Rosa canina),
Field Maple (Acer campestre),
Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus),
Hazel (Corylus avellana),
Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus),
Wild Privet (Ligustrum vulgare),
Scotch Rose (Rosa spinosissima),
Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa),
Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides),
Spindle (Euonymus europaeus),
Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum lantana)
Wild Crabapple (Malus sylvestris)

But after doing some more research I read that blackthorn will send out 'suckers'. This could be a problem since my garden is just a standard semi-detached (50~ ft x 30 ft) & these blackthorn suckers could go into my neighbours garden... not good. Also, oak trees sound mighty big for my back garden!

So Im not sure what to do now. Any suggestions?

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Steggs.

Are you saying your over all plot is 50 x 30ft? How long will the hedge be? You're going to be pushed to grow forty plants in that space. Have you thought about the height and spread of each individual plant when mature?

 

Thanks Sheal, nice to hear from you.

Yeh it's 50+ x 30+ feet. All the hedge planting guides say to plant 3 plants per meter so 40 plants does fit... they're already in the ground

As for height and spread I read that you can keep the hedge trim to somewhere around 6 feet. I'm just not sure about the big trees included in this mix... and also the blackthorn 'suckers' will be a problem it sounds like.

 

I bought a native hedge mix a couple years back and they do say to plant 3 feet apart... I must admit I didn't plant the hawthorn or blackthorn as i had just ripped it all out.. Nasty bloody things! Two years on and dozens of root killers later the hawthorns still trying to grow back! But I suppose it is great for birds to nest in ... Just get uber thick gloves!

 

Thanks Clueless. So only after 2 years you ripped up the blackthorn/hawthorn? Hmm I was going to wait a few years and see what it was like then but this is good to know. Maybe I will wait 1 year and see if I like it or not

 

Sorry didn't make myself clear when we moved in there was a hawthorn hedge that was out of control it was so vicious we got rid of it (so we thought) and replaced it with native hedge whips but the stumps just keep re sprouting and running suckers out into the garden even though we have drilled and poured in tree stump killer several times! It is really hard to kill

So there is no way I was planting more of that stuff!

 

Not the ideal hedging choice On a serious note, maybe you could offer them to a local school or similar?

Not sure that I would want that in there as it can get rather rampant.