What is suitable to plant along a fence line for privacy?

Lady La La

Lady La La

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Quick question on behalf of my friend - she is wanting to plant something all the way along her fence line to give her field some privacy, but neither of us have the first clue about gardening/growing things.

We initially thought about leylandii, but a swift google tells me that although horses don't tend to eat that, it is actually poisonous to them, and so that doesn't seem like a very sensible option :o

Do you wonderful people have any suggestions? Preferably ones that aren't going to break the bank or poison her horses :p

Thanks in advance :)
 
hawthorn are good :) just need to fence away horses away from them while they establish otherwise you wont have any left :) and they are good at keeping horses in and people out as they are prickly :)
 
Beech is good, non toxic, can keep its leaves on fairly late on as well so not so long a bare period. Also dog rose (has the advantage of the prickles too), rowan (make jelly from the berries)
 
I planted 200 beech trees about 3 years ago - complete waste of money! They are still tiddlers and not going anywhere.

I am a) on clay and b) they are planted along a strip of land where there are 4 huge oaks.

No idea whether this has anything to do with the fact they haven't grown but if so, I should probably go after the man who supplied them and did the job :rolleyes:

Oooo off to Ashridge.
 
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I've got a lovely Hornbeam hedge, but when we planted it (me & mum) we knew it took a long time to get going.
We planted it in 1985...... we managed to cut & lay it in the mid 90's & its only been having a proper haircut since turn of the century - usually every other year & its around 10ft high & 4-5 ft wide. Brilliant screen in summer & still 'camoflages' to an extent in the winter :)

If you are able to get gorse cuttings, then this makes a brilliant hedge, tho be careful when its very dry & you have bonfires - as is more combustible than other hedging.
 
Beech is really slow growing, as you say lelandi are poisnous & also grow really quickly & get really big, so need maintenance to stop them getting too big. Hornbeam is good, hawthorn or hazel would be nice. Definately not yew as it is deadly poisnous.
 
Why not plant a mixture? And if there are oaks already, it sounds as if they grow! Alder are also good and fairly quick growing. The thing about planting trees is that if they are in the wrong place, you can always turn them into fire wood. But if you didn't plant them in the first place....:(
 
Hawthorn is nice as it has red berries for the birds and non toxic for horses(my oldie use to love nibbling this). But it has thorns but is a good native type hedge.(Security etc). The field hedge gets chopped by our farmer

Hazel is nice non prickly thing with bigger leaves which when they drop are a bit of a pain. The squirrels birds like the nuts. (It grows fast and is easy to cut as no prickles).

Either of these I think are good for horses. Avoid Holly, leylandi, Yew(unless you want ever green).

I have beech too and as said the leaves do stay on and look nice too(not sure if good or bad for equines).
 
littlelegs said:
Artillery.
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We saw some nice woven willow gun-turrets at Great Yorkshire Show one year. We were strongly tempted but decided that the gales we sometimes get would probaby blow them over or away. I think they were on the RSPB stand, if you would like some.


OP, We have been discussing this very question recently, we need something fairly fast-growing, so have decided on dog-rose, mixed with silver birch, hawthorn and holly.
 
Shivvy said:
Think yew is very toxic to equines.
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Yep I have no idea why I said Yew its very poisonous! Ignore that one! Most evergreens are..typo brain error.

Hawthorn is my first choice definitely. You can pick it up bare root if you shop around about 45p a plant. Good time of year to get this in.
 
Another vote for Hawthorn. Once it is established it will be great for providing the horses with extra herbage and it is very good for them for improving circulation, etc.
 
Do check list of plants which are not safe for horses, there are some surprises on it like holly and oak. However I have holly round my fields in various places and have never seen anything trying to eat it.

Hawthorn or blackthorn grow quite quickly and look nice in spring when they blossom, they are traditional to our country side as well so look in keeping. I I also have a hedge of field maple which grew reasonably quickly and has lovely autumn colour. Hazel is also good and makes a thick plant quickly.

A nice idea is to have a mixed hedge, with a variety of native plants in it and some specialist nurseries have deals on these.

I do have a hedge of rugosa roses and could not believe it when yearlings walked straight through it obviously not noticing the thorns! Luckily there was another fence behind so no one escaped.
 
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