edible hedge

Anyone got any ideas?

I want to plant a (20' long hedge, approx waist hight) to keep my chooks away from the veggie patches, but I'd also like it to produce something I can eat.

I'm thinking gooseberries, what are you thinking?

 

sorry that makes little sense. the brackets are in all the wrong places.

 

good idea stickman, and it made perfect sense

 

Anything edible, the chickens will have it first! Your only chance might be nuts (eg hazel).

 

And they wont fruit at waist height. It would be more like 15 feet high. A hedge won't keep chickens out surely. You would have to use wire and you could put a hedge on the veg side where the chickens couldn't eat the fruit.

 

Great idea stickman but I'd go for Geoff's suggestion and put in a low chicken wire fence with the hedge on the fowl free side.
Don't know if I'd want 20' of gooseberries - that's a lot of berries. You could try mixing the bushes - perhaps red and black currants with gooseberries.
Um, chicken with red currant sauce?

[ 02. December 2007, 10:23 PM: Message edited by: Dave W ]

 

You can grow red currants as cordons. if this is a long term thing what might be nice is to use the wire and then on the veg side plant apples. If you planted them at say 5 feet apart, or much further, you could train them as low espaliers. You would probably get in at least 2 tiers at that height. As long as you chose varieties that are spur bearers they are easy to train and you can buy maidens for �£7 each. You would need to set up a system of posts and wires. You can also do it with pears.

 

How about try out some super fruits - blue berries and goji berries. And how about elder - it will give you some scented fowers which are alos etable.

 

Thanks for all the ideas!

Definately think I will need a low fence for the hedge to grow up against otherwise the little blighters will just make holes in it.

Have taken some black, white and redcurrant and gooseberry (green and red) cuttings to plant out when the weather gets a bit better.

I like the idea of blueberries and goji berries, how frost tender are they?

My mother has an old gooseberry bush, it's only about 3' tall and she gets plenty of fruit.

Just praying that chickens don't like currants!

 

No problems with blueberries up here, we get a great crop. So should be fine in Sussex.

 

goji berries are also hardy to -15 degree, they should be fine in uk.