[lillydee]

Hi guys, I'm a hedging/gardening novice and am interested in planting a hedge at the front of our property. It would be a good distance from the house. The purpose of the hedge would be for screening and also more importantly to attract wildlife. I want to encourage as many bees, butterflies and birds into the garden as possible and am also interested in conservation. The hedge would be aprox. 25m. I have some plant suggestions below I would love to hear any opinions on them, positive and negative. Would it be possible to add all of these suggestions into the 'hedge' or would it look strange? I thought it might be interesting to add a few tall trees to create interest/ height difference. (e.g. Wild Service/Chequer Tree and the oak). But would they create too much of a shadow over the rest of the plants?

- PYRACANTHA Saphyr Red
- Blackthorn Prunus Spinosa
- ESCALLONIA Donard Radiance
- PYRACANTHA coccinea Red
- Common Whitebeam Sorbus Aria
- Alder Buckthorn Rhamnus Frangula
- PRUNUS spinosa
- ILEX aquifolium
- Common Dogwood Cornus Sanguinea
- Common Privet Ligustrum Vulgare
- Goat Willow Salix Caprea
- Wild Service or Chequer Tree Sorbus Torminalis
- COTONEASTER dammeri Coral
- HEBE Great
- FAGUS sylvatica
- Sessile Oak Quercus Petraea


Thanks!

[Sive]

There was a very good article about native hedging posted on this forum....do try to find it. I see you have left the most important hedging plant out : hawthorn, which is now coming into bloom everywhere and looks beautiful....and is one of the best natives for wildlife.

[lillydee]

Dear Sive thanks for the advice I'll definitely have a read of that information!

I was considering Hawthorn which is beautiful but it is also very abundant in my locality that's why I was favouring buckthorn and blackthorn as they are less common and would offer more variety for the wildlife.

[Sedum and Sage]

[quote="lillydee"]Hi guys, I'm a hedging/gardening novice and am interested in planting a hedge at the front of our property. It would be a good distance from the house. The purpose of the hedge would be for screening and also more importantly to attract wildlife. I want to encourage as many bees, butterflies and birds into the garden as possible and am also interested in conservation. The hedge would be aprox. 25m. I have some plant suggestions below I would love to hear any opinions on them, positive and negative. Would it be possible to add all of these suggestions into the 'hedge' or would it look strange? I thought it might be interesting to add a few tall trees to create interest/ height difference. (e.g. Wild Service/Chequer Tree and the oak). But would they create too much of a shadow over the rest of the plants?

- PYRACANTHA Saphyr Red Very thorny! Looks good, but would be painful to trim every year.
- Blackthorn Prunus Spinosa
- ESCALLONIA Donard Radiance There is a disease affecting these at the moment, so I wouldn't bother planting them
- PYRACANTHA coccinea Red Same as 1st
- Common Whitebeam Sorbus Aria
- Alder Buckthorn Rhamnus Frangula
- PRUNUS spinosa
- ILEX aquifolium
- Common Dogwood Cornus Sanguinea
- Common Privet Ligustrum Vulgare
- Goat Willow Salix Caprea Probably too vigorous for a hedge.
- Wild Service or Chequer Tree Sorbus Torminalis
- COTONEASTER dammeri Coral
- HEBE Great Non native, probably not very beneficial to wildlife
- FAGUS sylvatica
- Sessile Oak Quercus Petraea

The trees you have listed may be a bit too big, a couple of smaller flowering trees that could be nice are Amelanchier and Malus Gorgeous.