Small Hedge Advice Please

[Munch]

Watcha Gang

I am hoping for some ideas......

Down at my lottie we are going to separate our fruity bit off with a small hedge/border with an arch in the middle and plan to have a nice seating area in there too. A pretty section if you like.

Thanks to Snadgers thread, it got us thinking. We would like it to be productive/edible!

Ideally we would like sloes, but I think they may get far to big.

The width of the plot is 11 metres if that helps! We dont want to lose too much growing space nor light if it gets too tall.

What would you suggest?

Ta muchly xx

[alex-adam]

I would suggest a native species hedge, have a look at this link, - may help:

Top 20 hedge plants to create a native English hedgerow - most, greatest of everything ranked User Contributed Rankings - ShareRanks.com

Another one:

BBC - Gardening - Gardening Guides - Techniques - Plant a native hedge

[veggiechicken]

I know you want an arch but what height do you want the hedge to be? As high as the arch? If so will it cast a shadow on the rest of your plot? Just a thought....

[Munch]

No not at all, we just want a little hedge probably to a maximum of 3 foot tall. We were thinking of creating a pretty flowery kind of thing but then got onto thinking we maybe able to have a more productive (in the kitchen) hedge/border.

[veggiechicken]

Ah, 3' tall. Definitely not sloes then! What about training grape vines along wires - and up and over an arch?
Or you could do something similar with blackberries/loganberries. I line paths with jostaberries which grow easily from cuttings, keep their leaves for much of the year, are thornless and taste good.

[northepaul]

Do you want a wild hedge (ie with wild plants such as hawthorns/brambles) or more cultivated?
How about cherry plums, wild roses or crab apples?

[Munch]

I dont want to lose too much room so maybe wild is out of the question!

[cardiffsteve]

What about a line of fruit bushes or trees trained onto wires to keep them low?
Theres a term for that but cant remember what it is! (coppice?)

[Maccabee]

Espalier?

Espalier training trees / Royal Horticultural Society

I had a similar plan for when/if i ever get an allotment. It looks like a bit of a long term investment though before you get much fruit, but worth waiting for imo.

[Hilary B]

What about a line of fruit bushes or trees trained onto wires to keep them low?
Theres a term for that but cant remember what it is! (coppice?)

I think they call them 'step-over espalier'. You would have to get fruit trees on a dwarfing root stock.

[VirginVegGrower]

Step over apples or chaenomeles for small quinces. Or a raspberry hedge up wires - its how I have mine. Try an autumn fruiting one if you already have summer. Or do what I do and have half and half.
Good luck with it!