The hawthorn is highly recommended to all those who would like to border their garden with a decorative flowering hedge. Not only does it produce attractive and blooming flowers, but it also has the best fencing properties. We'll show you which ones below.
Why is hawthorn suitable for hedges?
A hawthorn as a hedge is an attractive, flowering option for bordering the garden. The easy-care common hawthorn 'Paul's Scarlet' impresses with carmine-red, rose-like flowers, good fencing qualities thanks to its thorny branches and serves as a nesting area for birds.
The slightly more distinctive hawthorn variant
We know enough about hawthorn from the wild. The many species of the rose family Crataegus are widespread throughout Europe and decorate the edges of fields and meadows or sparse forest bushes with their thorny, gnarled appearance and their delicate foliage and flowers.
All red-flowering varieties of hawthorn go under the name hawthorn, although only the cultivar 'Paul's Scarlet' of the two-handled hawthorn Crataegus laevigata is considered real hawthorn. Like hawthorn, its flowers are clustered together in umbel panicles. However, their carmine red color and their double character make them look like small roses - this gives the hawthorn a somewhat more elegant, less simple character compared to the hawthorn with its simple, white flowers.
If you want to add a little distinctive chic to your garden hedge without being too bulky, we recommend the real hawthorn.
Hedge suitability even more
The practical benefits of hawthorn:
- Best confinement qualities
- Easy care
- Planting period hardly limited
Good fencing qualities
Apart from the splendor of flowers that appear in May and June, the common hawthorn brings you a few other, more practical advantages. On the one hand, its richly branched branches with sharp thorns make it ideal as a garden border. This means it naturally keeps strange cats or dogs away and doesn't necessarily invite human intruders to mess with it. For birds, however, the branch offers a well-protected nesting area, which should be very welcome for every hobby gardener.
Easy care
For a practical garden bordering purpose, a hedge plant shouldn't take much work. Finally, there are the ornamental and useful plants in the beds and pots. The hawthorn is also a grateful companion in this respect. Basically all it needs is a sunny location, fresh, moist soil that is as nutrient-rich as possible and pruning every year, ideally immediately after flowering.
Plants made easy
Planting does not require any special precautions either. You can plant all year round as long as there is no frost. For a hedge, calculate about 3 plants per linear meter.
