Hedging to add to this boundary?

paddylonglegs

folks,

as much as I want to conserve natural looking planting to a hedgerow, this boundary is looking the pits. While the gnarly hawthorn on the old stone wall has a certain charm, I’m looking at it regularly from my kitchen and it needs shaping up.

I’ll cut back some of the overgrown hawthorn and remove the bulk of ivy and brambles, but the prevailing wind blasts right through here so I think additional hedging is needed in the gaps on the to act as a shelter belt. The border infront will be replanted properly in time.

Can anyone recommend a selection of native hedging suitable for this situation? I would be planting this side of the fence, and the photo faces south.

looksee

Lol, that second pic is so similar to bits of hedgerow round my house! You will find it very difficult to get anything to take in the stone wall area, between stones and roots and exposure its challenging. Unfortunately a previous owner planted privet and lonicera nitida along the border, which is big and very happy to grow, but I don't like it. I have removed a lot, and keep the rest cut right down but some of it is hard to get rid altogether as it would take down the wall, which I like.

I like the stone/hawthorn look and have huge ferns growing naturally along the bottom of the bank like the one you have. Even though the hawthorn is old you could cut it back savagely and it will regrow nice new growth and look better for it. If you want more trees you could try rowan - I successfully put some very young rowans into the top of a stone ditch and they are doing well - I filled in a couple of rabbit holes and planted them there, I thought the rabbits would chew the roots but they didn't, they just made new holes! Spindle is another option, again put in very young whips. Honeysuckle would look a bit wild but would fill in gaps, you can keep it trimmed into a loose sort of bush and it looks nice. The border looks fine, its in keeping with the hedge and will be nice when all those bulbs flower, just add plants as they take your fancy, don't try to formalise it too much.

paddylonglegs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123162091#Comment_123162091

thank you for this, some great ideas here. I had disregarded the trees as I thought the branches would be too high. Can the rowan be grown with low branches? Creating the shelter belt is important but also keeping it natural is important. Elder trees might also work as they seem to grow everywhere!

looksee

Rowan does tend to grow with upward branches so may not be what you want. The spindle can be kept fairly short, it is a tree but the branches spread sideways and are more amenable to being low. I would hesitate to put elder in, its a very scruffy looking bush though the flowers and berries are nice. Hazel might be an option provided you keep cutting it right back. Flowering current is not native but its established in Ireland and looks nice, and again is improved by savage cutting back.

standardg60

Work with what you have, established plants are way more easy to direct. Definitely sever the ivy at the bottom of them, and then cut them back as far and as low as you like. A good granular feed will work wonders.

paddylonglegs

I will also investigate the bank to see how much is stone and how much is soil.

Thanks for the feedback