Fast-growing, horse-safe hedge

Vodkagirly said:
Just to jump on the thread. I like the idea of gorse for a gap between mine and next doors grazing. Just had a Google and do people just plant from seed? Wondering if i have time to do it this year so any advice greatfully recieved
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Can be done from seed, plant now. I bought mine as little plants and they quickly established and they have a phenomenal growth rate,the only thing that can keep up is goat willow.
 
Was going to say hawthorn - horse won’t be going through that but it’s safe for them to eat. Can they get up on the bank to graze then?
 
Clodagh said:
I’d never, ever grow blackthorn near horses but hawthorn (or quick thorn it’s also sold as) is great stuff.
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I have lots of blackthorn hedges, lovely stuff. :D:DDon't forget to buy the animalintex and poultice soaking boots as well. :D:D

whatever you plant will need trimming. I spend a long time raking up the trimmings when our blackthorn and thorn hedges are cut. No choice really it is quicker to do that than to poultice feet to get the blackthorn out.

how are you g
oing to trim the arena side of any hedge? by hand with a hedgetrimmer as you won't get a tractor in. Hedges grow fast, they loose their leaves every Autumn right over your arena surface. Once you have trimmed the inside what are you going to do with the trimmings? remove them which will be hard work?

I wouldn't worry too much about what to plant, most plants seem to grown very quickly the real work is in maintaining it.
Gorse is no better or worse than traditional hedging plants but it needs a lot of maintaining once it takes over to keep the shape of a hedge. Horses do eat it but not very much, just the odd mouthful.
Don't forget to put a gate in your hedge so you can get inside easily to strim the grass.
 
anglo said:
I wouldnt use blackthorn as the thorns can cause problems .
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We had a short stretch of blackthorn in an additionally purchased field. Two cows lost an eye following thorn penetration and one got septicaemia, within a year.
It was ripped out and replaced with hawthorn and holly.
I really like a full holly hedge, supposedly toxic, but never come across any horses, cattle or sheep remotely interested in eating it.
Holly makes the most fabulous, dense shelter, we’ve got one sculpted into a proper overhang like a field shed, and only needs one annual trim.
Most of our fences are stone walls, a 5’ stone wall round your bank won’t take much maintenance!
 
Exasperated said:
We had a short stretch of blackthorn in an additionally purchased field. Two cows lost an eye following thorn penetration and one got septicaemia, within a year.
It was ripped out and replaced with hawthorn and holly.
I really like a full holly hedge, supposedly toxic, but never come across any horses, cattle or sheep remotely interested in eating it.
Holly makes the most fabulous, dense shelter, we’ve got one sculpted into a proper overhang like a field shed, and only needs one annual trim.
Most of our fences are stone walls, a 5’ stone wall round your bank won’t take much maintenance!
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Holly is great and edible in moderate amounts, except the berries. In the north of England it used to be grown specifically for winter fodder - it would be fenced off so it wasn't browsed, and then would grow almost thornless leaves. I used to cut it for our boys from the trees at our old livery yard. But it is often slow to get going, sometimes really slow.
 
Exasperated said:
We had a short stretch of blackthorn in an additionally purchased field. Two cows lost an eye following thorn penetration and one got septicaemia, within a year.
It was ripped out and replaced with hawthorn and holly.
I really like a full holly hedge, supposedly toxic, but never come across any horses, cattle or sheep remotely interested in eating it.
Holly makes the most fabulous, dense shelter, we’ve got one sculpted into a proper overhang like a field shed, and only needs one annual trim.
Most of our fences are stone walls, a 5’ stone wall round your bank won’t take much maintenance!
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Yes, I like a full Holly hedge too, or a Holly, hawthorn, hazel mix.

Although my horses will all eat Holly whips, and in winter will browse young leaves.
 
Burnttoast said:
Holly is great and edible in moderate amounts, except the berries. In the north of England it used to be grown specifically for winter fodder - it would be fenced off so it wasn't browsed, and then would grow almost thornless leaves. I used to cut it for our boys from the trees at our old livery yard. But it is often slow to get going, sometimes really slow.
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That’s right, the land growing these were called ‘haggs’; to rent: x acres of holly hagg from the manorial court, or tithes on x bushels of holly from the hagg.
Maybe what holly hedging we have is just too mature, or the grass too interesting, but they never get eaten other than birds for the berries.
 
Exasperated said:
We had a short stretch of blackthorn in an additionally purchased field. Two cows lost an eye following thorn penetration and one got septicaemia, within a year.
It was ripped out and replaced with hawthorn and holly.
I really like a full holly hedge, supposedly toxic, but never come across any horses, cattle or sheep remotely interested in eating it.
Holly makes the most fabulous, dense shelter, we’ve got one sculpted into a proper overhang like a field shed, and only needs one annual trim.
Most of our fences are stone walls, a 5’ stone wall round your bank won’t take much maintenance!
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No but think of the initial expense!
And tbh our walls need quite a lot of maintenance, there's always a bit falling down somewhere.
 
Exasperated said:
That’s right, the land growing these were called ‘haggs’; to rent: x acres of holly hagg from the manorial court, or tithes on x bushels of holly from the hagg.
Maybe what holly hedging we have is just too mature, or the grass too interesting, but they never get eaten other than birds for the berries.
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yes holly haggs. The rabbits eat mine :rolleyes: hence they are too dead or too prickly for the ponies to have been interested, but there was some good outgrown holly on a nearby footpath that I used to grab occasional non-thorny bits from. They were only really interested in it in the winter and in quite small amounts.
 
Thanks - Hedges Direct is where we got our last lot of plants from so I’m aware of them - I’m also aware of how long it takes to get a decent hedge growing … We actually have a line of established holly along one side of one of the fields - the horses have never touched it and it makes a fabulous shelter but the holly whips I planted to fill in a couple of gaps have barely grown at all in two and a half years so definitely not fast-growing! On reflection I think we’ll probably go with another line of posts with electric rope to avoid ongoing maintenance issues/roots growing in the wrong place etc
 
I've used Hedges Direct for years, but had problems with the last couple of orders.

Our hedge consists of hawthorn, beech, hornbeam, goat willow, dog rose and thornless blackberries. I'm going to add some Hazel and Field Maple. We tried holly but it doesn't seem to like our soil, so I've given up on them.

The first couple of years, the ponies managed to get to it and absolutely decimated it. It now has leccy fencing protecting it, and I'm now letting some of the Hawthorn plants grow on as trees.
 
Muddy unicorn said:
On reflection I think we’ll probably go with another line of posts with electric rope to avoid ongoing maintenance issues/roots growing in the wrong place etc
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Very wise. The roots of any hedge will naturally migrate towards the arena drains as they seek water.

I’d have preferred a hedge around our arena, too, but heeded the words of wisdom from the Charles Britton team who advised against it.
 
Muddy unicorn said:
Thanks - Hedges Direct is where we got our last lot of plants from so I’m aware of them - I’m also aware of how long it takes to get a decent hedge growing … We actually have a line of established holly along one side of one of the fields - the horses have never touched it and it makes a fabulous shelter but the holly whips I planted to fill in a couple of gaps have barely grown at all in two and a half years so definitely not fast-growing! On reflection I think we’ll probably go with another line of posts with electric rope to avoid ongoing maintenance issues/roots growing in the wrong place etc
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The holly hedging we do have is mega, some will be 20 feet high, and really dense, managed to carve an overhang ‘roof’ into one holly bank which animals can stand under and keep dry for hours. But those hollies have been growing since Inclosure!
A neighbour recently planted a holly hedge, bought established bushes about 5 feet high, and it has really taken off, despite the dry spell this year. She mulched in rotted manure, which maybe made the difference?
Whips are always disappointing at first! Then several years in, they’re off like racehorses....
 
When we moved here 20+yrs ago we had a load of native hedging put in
It's all very well grown and solid except the hollies which are are pathetic, weedy things
 
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