Best hedge to plant

[Christmas Crumpet]

Having had a few incidents recently where the neighbours horses and mine have had an argument over the fence, I'm wanting to plant a hedge between our 2 fields. There are 2 lines of fencing, their's and ours and about a foot in between. Our fence is solid and in good condition. Their's is rubbish which they have acknowledged. We had a chat yesterday and they are in agreement that there needs to be more of a division between the 2 fields and a proper boundary hedge. I was thinking some kind of evergreen hedge as we've got one down our drive and its a good barrier and their horses don't eat that. Neighbour not keen for another one like that apparently. So where is the middle ground? We need something that the horses won't eat as its growing and it will grow into a good hedge that my husband can then cut and lay in the future.
Any thoughts?

 

[lamlyn2012]

Ask Buckingham nurseries to send you their catalogue.
Tells you everything you need to know, including growth rate per year. We've just planted some hornbeam which is lovely. They do a special mixed hedging for horses too and they deliver throughout uk. You will have to electric fence in front until established as horses will always eat young shoots, even quickthorn.

 

[DD]

Holly. slow growing and needs protection whilst it is small but its prickly evergreen and will eventually make a great hedge. you can also inter plant with hawthorn which will grow quicker. I have successfully planted a hedge between 2 fields which is now solid and in very good condition. you will need electric tape both sides to keep the horses off it whilst it grows we had ours up for a few years until the sapling reached the required height. also plant thick;ly for good and quicker results around 9 plants to the meter in a zig zag pattern 1ft between fences isn't much we had about 3 ft then electric fence further away too.

 

[SEL]

The farmer where we are has just popped saplings in to replace to poplar trees that got too big and had to be removed. A mix of hawthorn, hazel, cherry (I'm not convinced that should be in there) and I think hornbeam too. All the saplings have that plastic stuff wound around them to protect them from deer and the horses - plus some decent fencing to stop ponies nibbling as they outgrow the plastic!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Hornbeam is lovely - but in the first few years or so is very very slow growing compared to most other hedging. I have a dense hornbeam hedge in my top fields, mother and I planted it in 1979, we cut and laid it for a good foundation 6 years later and it really came into its own about 10/12 years after planting 3 ft saplings on staggered widths.
Its now dense and a good wind break, but requires trimming every 2 years or butchering every 3 as I keep it about 10 ft high.

Nothing will last at all unless neighbour & yourself fence off the stock from it, to allow to get rooted and grow on.

For a quicker growing hedge (tho nowhere nr as fast as leylandii) use hawthorn, but it will still require the soft shoots protecting whilst growing as ponies/horses love the soft tips!

 

[lamlyn2012]

Hornbeam grows 30-60cms per year.
Quickthorn 45cm per year.
Hornbeam retains it's copper leaves throughout winter, which is nice.
Holly is toxic!!

 

[Goldenstar]

Holly Is a marvellous but very slow growing hedge .
I would use beech which keeps it’s dead leave in winter .

 

[stencilface]

We have a hawthorn (aka quickthorn) blackthorn and field maple hedge that's been planted progressively over 5-10 years, some bits are monstrous now! Field maple has gorgeous autumnal leaves and as far as my research tells me although the same family as sycamore, doesn't cause the same issues.

There are 2 beech standards in the hedgeline too, but they've been annihilated but hopefully one year will stand proud

My garden hedge is hawthorn, blackthorn (for the sloes) field maple, hazel, and crab apple.

 

[Goldenstar]

Hawthorn and blackthorn ( quickthorn) won’t be a good choice for a hedge that’s in a foot wide strip I have them here and the narrowest ones will be four feet across the base beech will just about manage and the horses won’t see through easily in winter

 

[spacefaer]

I would never ever plant blackthorn, given the damage the thorns do to horses and humans. Friends lost a horse due to a blackthorn puncture wound in its fetlock.

 

[Goldenstar]

Like spacefaer I don’t like blackthorn and deeply regret that we put it in here .

 

[Mrs B]

Another one who doesn't like blackthorn - not just because of the wicked thorns, but because it takes over your field around the edges at an alarming rate! We used to borrow sheep to try and graze down the encroaching growth in the pasture, but they barely made a dent.

Agree with going to a hedging specialist like Buckingham nurseries ... and would be interested to know what you end up choosing

 

[catkin]

Look to hedge in species that grow well and are fairly 'natural' for the area - saves time and heartache if your chosen trees thrive in your conditions. A hedging specialist should know what will like your soil.
PS - agree with the posters above, blackthorn is a pain.

 

[southerncomfort]

We've just started planting a hedge between 2 paddocks as we need a bit of a windbreak. We get battered by the winds coming in off the peaks!

We've started off with Hawthorn and it's already growing steadily. The horses managed to get to them once and had a nibble on the lower branches but thankfully hasn't affected growth! We are going to let a couple of them grow up in to trees to provide a bit of shade in the summer.

We are also going to include some Beech and Hazel and Rosa Rugosa. I was amazed that you can plant roses in a paddock hedge but apparently horses leave them alone until the rose hips appear!

All the paddocks I've ever rented have had a lot of blackberry bushes around the perimeter but these don't seem to be recommended any more. I know they can be a thug but I do like blackberries!

 

[honetpot]

I can not think of many hedge plants that are evergreen and non toxic.
I hate laurel, but it does grow like a weed and a horse would have to be desperate to eat it. You can cut it back hard and it will shoot from the base and generally abuse it. I have one leylandii in my hawthorn hedge and no one eats it, but they do get bare at the base.
I have bought plants from this company, I went for alder, not evergreen, but we live in a clay swamp and I hate trimming the hawthorn.
https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/hedging/evergreen-hedging