Hedge

[REDWOOD]

Calling all horticulturists to give me some ideas to hedge an apiary which should keep horses out and will be good foraging for bees, I did think of holly

 

[VEG]

Hawthorn, blackthorn, Rowan,


Craig

 

[itma]

Brambles?

 

[Hivemaker.]

Pyracantha or Gorse.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hawthorn, blackthorn


Craig

Hawthorn makes a decent hedge over a few years if you have the time. I would steer clear of Blackthorn as its a b****r to cut and work with. If you want a barrier to keep horses out you are better with a fence in the short term. Holly or another evergreen would provide shelter all year. Just make sure its non poisonous/palatable.

 

[VEG]

Blackthorn is no problem as long as you maintain it. I.e keep it trimmed.


Craig

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Blackthorn is no problem as long as you maintain it. I.e keep it trimmed.


Craig

Your mileage may vary.
I find the thorns particularly savage and although I do have some in hedges I would never use it in any renewal or to create a new one.

 

[Itchy]

Holly wins for hiding hives from thieves

 

[Finman]

.
I like Amelanchier spicata. It makes tight wall without leaves. It grows directly up. No spikes. No maintenance. Good wind protection.

 

[victor meldrew]

Horn beam ,
Extremely wind proof keeps it's leaves most of the winter providing you trim during June to encourage new leaf growth !
Very much like beech but of quicker growth!
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[user 6228]

however, a blackthorn hedge has other uses.
In our garden the holly appears everywhere, along with hawthorn, birch, ash and oak. blackthorn is the only thing like that we have had to plant, the robins, blackbirds and jays do the rest. The hives are almost surrounded by self seeded holly. Tried getting friends to take holly seedlings away but not alot of success.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hawthorn, blackthorn, Rowan,
Craig

Thorns aren't a problem - just put the right kit on - good enough for our ancestors for centuries (and for your gin )

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Also, Redwood - Coed Cadw in conjunction with the Welsh government are giving loads of help to plant pollinator friendly hedges seventy two quid for 210 plants, stakes and guards with pollinator trees covering the whole season plus free advice on planning your planting

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/learn/news-and-opinion/latest-news/bees-like-trees/

I'm sure the English government will tag along and copy the scheme eventually

 

[MuswellMetro]

Also, Redwood - Coed Cadw in conjunction with the Welsh government are giving loads of help to plant pollinator friendly hedges seventy two quid for 210 plants, stakes and guards with pollinator trees covering the whole season plus free advice on planning your planting

http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/learn/news-and-opinion/latest-news/bees-like-trees/

I'm sure the English government will tag along and copy the scheme eventually

Bet the welsh govt would soon cut it out, if the Barnett Foumlae was changed We get £7000 per Englishman and you get £8000 per Welshman, what did you spend the extra £1000 on?

England doesn't restart the woodland scheme until 2015

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

We get £7000 per Englishman and you get £8000 per Welshman, what did you spend the extra £1000 on?

Wrong - the Scots get a chunk of our share as well - as for the extra cash, we need the extra money for our NHS to cope with all the retired English who come to Wales to die and to put teachers through college so they can move to England to educate them - a strong tradition from the last century

 

[MuswellMetro]

Wrong - the Scots get a chunk of our share as well - as for the extra cash, we need the extra money for our NHS to cope with all the retired English who come to Wales to die and to put teachers through college so they can move to England to educate them - a strong tradition from the last century

well at least the welsh chapel in bounds green london N11 has closed down ( i lived close to it) but at @£9300 northern ireland gets more than the scots , the men in skirts get £8639 not much more than welsh at £8139, but perhaps then deer are harder to catch than sheep ?

 

[dclewis]

Blackthorn, hawthorn great for the bees and wind protection but murderous for working and if you have pneunatic wheels on your wheelbarrow then you'll be for ever fixing punctures once you start cutting those hedges unless you have a foolproof method of collecting even the smallet parts of the clippings. Well I gave up and got a solid wheeled barrow. If you cut each year you won't see too many sloes either. I search for the hedges the neighours don't cut for my sloes.

 

[Ross]

I am planting a mixed native species hedge within my apiary at the moment, I have about 100m to do so I am part way through planting the best part of 500 bare root trees.

I would recommed borrowing a copy of "Where have all the flowers gone" by Charles Flower (it is pretty expensive and mainly about wildflower meadows). It has a chapter specifically detailing installing native species hedges to provide forrage and flowers.

The hedge I am installing is 50% Hawthorn, planted as a double row 5 trees per m approx 1m between rows. Plant 1 row as hawthorn (1 tree every 40cm) this provides the thorny structure of the hedge which will make it stock proof in a couple of seasons, it is also great for nesting birds and early season flowers. The second row should be a mix of native species. There is a % mix recommended in the book. However, as there were some other trees we wanted to include we varied our mix slightly to:

Hazel 15.0%
Blackthorn 4.0%
Field Maple 5.0%
Wayfaring Tree 2.6%
Holly 2.0%
Hawthorn 50.0%
Buckthorn 5.0%
Dogwood 7.0%
Spindle 2.6%
Dog Rose 2.6%
Crab Apple 2.0%
Elder 2.2%

We bought ours from Mill Farm Trees as they were the best value, for bare root trees which need to planted around now.

I would steer clear of a solid Blackthorn hedge as it spreads by suckering and will gradually advance across your apiary. Dispersed individual blackthorns give shape to your hedge creating sheltered areas.

I would also dip all bare root trees in a microrhizoal fungi solition before planting as this will establish a better root system.

I tried to buy a tree planting spade but they cost a fortune so ended up buying a drain spade from Toolstation. They are basically the same and it cost about £20 and was invaluable for planting bare root trees. Just open a slit tuck in the tree roots, drop in a cane, heel in and put a spiral tree guard over the top.

Hope this helps.

Ross

 

[MJBee]

Horn beam ,
Extremely wind proof keeps it's leaves most of the winter providing you trim during June to encourage new leaf growth !
Very much like beech but of quicker growth!
VM


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have a 30m hornbeam just outside my garden that gives me an endless supply of self seeded saplings which I intend to use to replace a half dead leylandii hedge.
The palace gardens in Paris have hornbeam hedges that are 20ft high but only 2ft wide, wonderful bit of careful pruning.

 

[theeggman]

I am planting a mixed native species hedge within my apiary at the moment, I have about 100m to do so I am part way through planting the best part of 500 bare root trees.

I would recommed borrowing a copy of "Where have all the flowers gone" by Charles Flower (it is pretty expensive and mainly about wildflower meadows). It has a chapter specifically detailing installing native species hedges to provide forrage and flowers.

The hedge I am installing is 50% Hawthorn, planted as a double row 5 trees per m approx 1m between rows. Plant 1 row as hawthorn (1 tree every 40cm) this provides the thorny structure of the hedge which will make it stock proof in a couple of seasons, it is also great for nesting birds and early season flowers. The second row should be a mix of native species. There is a % mix recommended in the book. However, as there were some other trees we wanted to include we varied our mix slightly to:

Hazel 15.0%
Blackthorn 4.0%
Field Maple 5.0%
Wayfaring Tree 2.6%
Holly 2.0%
Hawthorn 50.0%
Buckthorn 5.0%
Dogwood 7.0%
Spindle 2.6%
Dog Rose 2.6%
Crab Apple 2.0%
Elder 2.2%

We bought ours from Mill Farm Trees as they were the best value, for bare root trees which need to planted around now.

I would steer clear of a solid Blackthorn hedge as it spreads by suckering and will gradually advance across your apiary. Dispersed individual blackthorns give shape to your hedge creating sheltered areas.

I would also dip all bare root trees in a microrhizoal fungi solition before planting as this will establish a better root system.

I tried to buy a tree planting spade but they cost a fortune so ended up buying a drain spade from Toolstation. They are basically the same and it cost about £20 and was invaluable for planting bare root trees. Just open a slit tuck in the tree roots, drop in a cane, heel in and put a spiral tree guard over the top.

Hope this helps.

Ross

Ross, You've no doubt helped the OP + a lot others with the info. I agree re. blackthorn suckers, we use a flail topper to keep the b**gers in check.
Tim