advice please - roses as hedging

[mrsbusy]

Hi All.
Has anyone grown an informal hedge using roses successfully?
I have been online looking at options and see that single roses are best for pollinators.
David Austin recommend Morning Mist. Other sites suggest Rosa Rugosa.
The proposed hedge is for our front garden and the bed will be approx 2m by 6m. We need to make a windbreak as the garden is open plan and the prevailing wind whips across - we put some plants in this year but they have not done very well.
Interested to hear any opinions please.

[burnie]

Rosa Rugosa has the added advantage of security as it known as living barbed wire and is quite vigorous, I find other roses as a bit thin for a hedge myself.

[More basil]

A word of warning about Rosa rugosa- it can spread like crazy via suckering, particularly on sandy soil. Hard pruning makes it worse. It is invasive on sandy coastal areas in my native Denmark but on a positive note seems completely unfussed by wind. I have seen it suckering on heavy clay too.

Having said that, it does form a good dense hedge with deliciously scented flowers and edible rosehips.

[ESBkevin]

Roses tend not to be very thick as shrubs go so multiple rows would be needed. That then creates a problem with weeding/feeding and pruning if you have to reach in past other roses, so I might discourage that idea as a wind break. But a single row makes a nice organic barbed wire fence as mentioned or maybe with other shrubs/plants also sharing your 2m wide border.

Do you need that windbreak more in the winter than the summer or just summer when Bar B Q weather is available? If you need it for the longer period you are reduced to evergreen/conifers like yew or beech. Beech isn't evergreen but does often hang on to it's brown leaves long after other trees have let go of thiers making a thick beech hedge a decent screen/wind break. Yew on the other hand is evergreen and can be trimmed hard into a narrow width hedge (less than 18") but still be thick and effective as a screen/windbreak. You could then put specemin roses in the bed in front of the screen (but feed them well as the yew shares root space) and they would be protected and have a lovely green backdrop. Remember to leave space for 'hedge trimming' and rose pruning between the rose specemins.

HTH

[nickdub]

I like Rosa rugosa, it has both pink and white forms and sets very big bright orange hips. It is however not very formal and contrary to what many books say would not act as a deterrent to a determined intruder, though it is thorny. I'd say it was good for an informal boundary hedge and would work well if you wanted an mixed border in front of it. Might work well to mix in an old fashioned moss rose of some kind as the rugose's don't have much scent.

[mrsbusy]

Hi - thank you for your thoughts.
The windbreak is more for the summer altho what the heck is BBQ weather - this is the UK !! I can say that because I have lots of Aussies in my family!!
Yew or beech is much more of a serious hedge - I am talking about an island bed which we can get to on either side. The problem with a double row of specimen roses is the cost ! I want something that is effective, not too costly,and low maintenance. Feel free to say dream on mate !!

[veggiechicken]

The hedge is an island bed?
You could buy a few roses and take cuttings to multiply them up. They won't be a "hedge" before next summer though.

[Birdie Wife]

Rosa rugosa is a great plant especially for challenging situations, though not native. The spines are fine and dense and bees absolutely love the flowers.

There's also a couple of native species - dog rose (Rosa canina, not as leafy but a good scrambler in a mixed hedge) and Scots rose (Rosa spinosissima, very spiny with lovely ferny leaves). R. canina grows the tallest of the three at 2.5-4m, R. rugosa grows to 1-1.5m, and R. spinonissima to 0.5-1m tall.

There are lots of varieties, especially of the rugosa, but bees prefer the single flowers which they can access more easily.

[DannyK]

Try Rosa rubiginosa. Rampant, thorny, only flowers once but when it's warm and damp it gives off strong smell of apples.