Recommendations for hedge plants please

[spacefaer]

Being a non-gardening type, I know very little about plants

I would love some recommendations for plants to make a hedge between two fences - one bordering the newly constructed yard, the other 3'-4' feet away bordering a turnout paddock. They will be planted on the bank created by the new build yard.

Preferably - quick growing, hardy, not edible to horses, not need lots of maintenance.....

Any thoughts?

 

[cobgoblin]

Most garden centres will give advice for field hedges or even sell variety packs. We have hawthorn, blackthorn and geulder rose mostly with a bit of elderberry, blackberry and holly that has seeded naturally...hedges soon fill in.
Whatever you plant the horses will probably nibble at the new shoots...we fenced both sides when we put a new hedge in.

 

[Adopter]

It will depend on your soil, but if the hedge is to be on a raised area go for plants that do not need a lot of water to survive. I find Holly works well, grows fast makes a good all year screen and is easy to clip once a year. I like to mix some variegated plants in with the dark green. I also have hawthorn hedges that are very hardy, but the young whips seem to take ages to get started.

 

[spacefaer]

The hedge will be on a slope but only a 3' drop from parking area to field.

It will be fenced both sides - electric on the horse side and netting on the yard side.

Soil is reasonable - mainly topsoil from the ground flattening of the new barn.

Never thought of mixing varieties ! Don't want any "weed" varieties though - elderberry and blackberry would definitely be rooted out lol! The guelderrose sounds pretty though

There's a holly hedge between us and the church yard - might be an idea to continue the theme ......

 

[DD]

holly is probably best. hawthorn is good but is edible. Guelder rose is toxic so not suitable if they are gong to eat it.

 

[PorkChop]

We put in a beech hedge when we moved, its pretty hardy and copes with most soils.

 

[spacefaer]

My OH loves beech - I'm never sure about the depressing brown leaves........

We have lots of beech saplings in the garden which I keep uprooting so it obviously likes it here!

 

[stencilface]

holly is probably best. hawthorn is good but is edible. Guelder rose is toxic so not suitable if they are gong to eat it.

Our piggy horses also eat holly lol

Hawthorn (also known as quickthorn for good reason) ash and field maple are all good growers. Beech is great as it provides a year round screen by keeping those depressing leaves lol.

I like blackthorn ( good for the sloes) but can cause problems with horses, reasonably minor though

Other nice hedge plants are dog rose, crab apple and hazel but they can get swamped easily if outgrown by hawthorn.

 

[dozzie]

There are conservation groups about who can help too. I am in the same position but have to plant a hedge as the cypress one I had was attacked by a mite. I will be looking at hawthorn, beech and not sure what else yet but want it to be manageable but indigenous as possible. Something to think about as there are lots of butterflies and moths that are becoming endangered.

 

[Goldenstar]

I love the beech hedge we planted it's beautiful it's a mixture of copper and green beech .
We also a Guelder Rose hedge rose hedge it's lovely .
We have Holly its very slow to establish if it's windy were it's planted .
We have a lot of mixed native hedging and the thing I wish we had that we don't is hazel for the nuts there's a hedge near us full of the most amazing hazels they look fantastic in autumn covers in nuts .

 

[stencilface]

There are conservation groups about who can help too. I am in the same position but have to plant a hedge as the cypress one I had was attacked by a mite. I will be looking at hawthorn, beech and not sure what else yet but want it to be manageable but indigenous as possible. Something to think about as there are lots of butterflies and moths that are becoming endangered.

Elder can also work, but for insects you're also better off getting a good mixed native flower mix in your hedge understorey. Meadowmania do horse friendly herb and grass mixes that encourage bees and butterflies. We planted about half an acre on our arena embankments, unfortunately most was swamped by chickweed, so that needs killing in the spring, followed probably by overseeding again.

My hedge at home has hazel, hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, crab apple and ash. We have a beech hedge on the road boundary and an ash, Holly, hawthorn, field maple hedge on the back with some mature willow, birch and a cherry.

 

[neddy man]

buy a "farmers guardian" companies in there advertising various hedgerow sapplings.

 

[Micky]

Beech is good hedging...holly is evergreen..as far as I know, anything evergreen is poisonous for horses...

 

[Snowy Celandine]

I've just planted a mixed native hedge (wild cherry, blackthorn, hazel, crab apple and black elder) but it is probably a bit too edible for your needs? I've also planted a rosa rugosa hedge which will be pretty spiky but will grow quite quickly. Not sure if horses would bother with rose hips or if they would hurt them?

 

[PeterNatt]

Blackthorn can be a pain as it has sharp needles on it which when cut qnd on the ground can pierce a horses hoof..

 

[spacefaer]

We have millions of self seeding ash saplings all the way through the garden from next door's massive ash trees, so I really don't want to add to that. The gap I want to fill is between 2 buildings - one new barn, one wooden stable - so nothing that would put down sufficient roots to disturb those

Some very good ideas - thanks!

I'm reluctant to put in blackthorn - again, next door has a blackthorn hedge adjoining and the suckers? saplings? from that keep invading the field. I spend many hours trying to avoid getting spiked by blackthorns out hunting - don't think I want to voluntarily exposed my horses to them!!

 

[stencilface]

I've just planted a mixed native hedge (wild cherry, blackthorn, hazel, crab apple and black elder) but it is probably a bit too edible for your needs? I've also planted a rosa rugosa hedge which will be pretty spiky but will grow quite quickly. Not sure if horses would bother with rose hips or if they would hurt them?

Rosehips are fed as a supplement to horses, so some would probably self medicate with them if they were available.

 

[Adopter]

I had a wonderful Rosa rugosa hedge until two young cobs were in the paddock, they thought it was Delicious! I think Holly is OK, certainly mine have chewed on it without I'll effects, and I think that in some moorland areas native ponies eat it in harsh winters.

 

[cobgoblin]

I had a wonderful Rosa rugosa hedge until two young cobs were in the paddock, they thought it was Delicious! I think Holly is OK, certainly mine have chewed on it without I'll effects, and I think that in some moorland areas native ponies eat it in harsh winters.

Ah! Rosa rugosa...that's the one not geulder rose. Ours have never touched it as its so prickly.

 

[Micky]

Holly is toxic to horses, cattle and sheep can eat it ok but they don't live as long as horses...it's low toxicity...

 

[Goldenstar]

Our horses never eat holly rosa rugosa on the other hand they love .

 

[PeterNatt]

Don't plant blackthorn because the spines can puncture horses feet causing an abcess etc.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Elder is supposed to be toxic everywhere except for the berries, according to what I've read. I don't know how you can square that with making elderflower whine, though... And I don't know for sure that this is true for horses...

Holly is edible, the bark used to be used for winter forage for sheep.

Blackthorn is a nice bush; the thorns are big and vicious, but unless you leave trimmings on the ground, I don't see how that is a problem for horses stepping on them. And you can harvest sloes from the bushes, to male sloe gin.

Pyrocantha grows quickly, has vicious thorns and pretty flowers and leaves. It grows well in sandy, dry soil.

 

[Bradsmum]

Our hedges are primarily hawthorn and blackthorn. However a farmer once told me that hawthorn hedges attract flies but no idea how true that is.

 

[tda]

Holly is toxic to horses, cattle and sheep can eat it ok but they don't live as long as horses...it's low toxicity...

No one told our ponies ! We planted some holly as part of our mixed hedge and they were eaten down to the ground.

 

[DabDab]

Useful thread, I'm currently pondering choices to use for in fill. I've got a right old mixture here. There's some big stretches of Holly that are the lowest maintenance and look the best year round (my horses do eat a fair bit of it but none of them has keeled over yet), blackthorn/hawthorn mix (which is a pain because my gelding has the most extraordinary ability to get the thorns stuck in his muzzle), and some chunks of crab apple/elder/rose (which are my favourite in summer). I really fancy some Hazel and beech... Think I'll probably plump for hazel

 

[Gloi]

Don't plant blackthorn because the spines can puncture horses feet causing an abcess etc.

A friend lost a horse when from a blackthorn thorn that worked its way deep into its shoulder and caused a bad infection.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Our hedges are primarily hawthorn and blackthorn. However a farmer once told me that hawthorn hedges attract flies but no idea how true that is.

I didn’t know that particularly but we’ve got hawthorn surrounding our school and the flies are awful and drive the horses mad in summer.

 

[Bradsmum]

SBTS - strangely enough it was a Sussex farmer who told me that . I also have it along one side of the school and tonight we had some horrid little black, biting flies out

 

[HashRouge]

We have hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple and holly round the horses' field, though it's gone way past the hedge stage to the tree stage
We do get very bad flies in summer but I think that's more because it's low lying wetland rather than due to the hawthorn. We've grazed them in fields surrounded by hawthorn before and not had much trouble with flies.