Sponsored Post - the joys of hedging

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This is the third of a series of posts I have been commissioned to write by PomonaFruits.  This month I have decided to focus on hedging.  It is the time of year when my mind turns to hedging and in particular the native hedge I have that runs along the side boundary of my house. 
I am particularly thinking about hedging now because it is a good time to prune and also to plan how fill in any gaps.  My boundary is full of colour from the berries and fruits that tangle their way around each other.  There are many benefits from having a native hedge and I shall now go through some of them.

As said above, they are easy to maintain, I chop bits off that are annoying throughout the year but I only give it a proper sorting once a year. My hedge is a glorious mix of Field Maple, Sloe and Hawthorn trees, with a weave of blackberries threading through them.  The blackberries and hawthorn create a prickly barrier that is better than any barbed wire I could buy and certainly more beautiful.  I also have dog roses growing here and there, self-sown by the birds that love to nest in the higher branches of the trees.
Image c/o Pomona Fruits

Pomona Fruits sell a nativehedging mix that is made up Viburnum opulus (Guelder Rose), Crataegus mongyna (Hawthorn), Prunus spinose (Sloe).  You get six plants of each, making a goodly length of hedge with 18 plants in total.  It is a not a speedy project, they will need time to grow, but within a year or two they do start to grow together well.
Image c/o Pomona Fruits

Hedges can be made from many different shrubs/trees.  I always think a definition of a hedge is that you cannot walk through it.  Pomona Fruits sell a good selection of other shrubs in bundles of 6. 12 and 18 plants.  Not only is there the native mix, there is also an EdibleHedging Mix containing Prunus cerasifera (Cherry Plum), Cornus mas (Cornelian Cherry) and Corylus avellana (Hazel), any one of these is a fine plant in itself.  I am particularly fond of the Cornus mas as it flowers so early in the year, it would be a great addition to any hedge or make a stunning hedge on its own. 

Image c/o Pomona Fruits

This shrub has one of the finest scents available in my opinion and it certainly can grow with vigour.  Treating it as a hedge would also encourage its flowering and it would be getting the pruning it so loves.  Bees love this plant and it is really quite tolerant of difficult conditions.  It is not native to the UK, but it is very good for pollinators nonetheless.
image c/o Pomona Fruits

Finally there is the dogrose, the wild rose, which grows into a beautiful hedge quite quickly.  There is a simplicity to the flowers that I find hard to resist.  Again it is festooned with sharp prickles that will deter people/animals from pushing through it.  At the top of my garden I have a corner that is protected by a row of wild roses trimmed into a hedge.  Bees and birds just love them.  I have made rose-hip jelly from them and I think they are a great all-rounder of a plant. 

I love a good hedge, they are easy to maintain, they help reduce wind damage and create microclimates in our gardens.  Best of all, they look amazing, what is not to love.



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