Advice on fence line planting

Gringro

hi

i have a fence line that is shared with a farmer who puts cattle in the fields from time to time. The fence line is composed of mature hawthorn trees varying in distance of 2-10 feet and in between them along the fence line there are lots and lots of briars.
We will be removing the old barbed wire fence and getting all the briars dug out (yah).

We will put in a new fence with 4 ft posts, sheep wire, a line of electric wire on top and on the inside of the new fence i am putting in green mesh windbreak netting.

i need to plant/fill the fence line that we will be clearing of briars.
and now i am looking for advice/ideas,
I need to choose plants that will;

a. suppress briars and not encourage them to grow again
b. act as a windbreak /shelter to my garden
c. not be easily damaged/eaten by cattle

i am open to all suggestion on plants except for black thorn and elderberry tree!

thank you

Genghis Cant

We're in a similar situation here, surrounded by farmland. We've put in a fair bit of hedging in the last five years.
The last one we planted is doing very well. It about 75% whitethorn and the other 25% made up of holly, Hazel, green privet, spindle, guelder rose, beech, and a few of crab apple and field maple. There's a few dogwood too but I'm not overly gone on them in it.
The best advice I can give you is to prepare a good bed for the plants, dig it ( with a mini digger or the like) in a trench and back fill to create a nice bed. Take out all the briar roots if you can while you're at it. It's easier to plant bare root plants into and they grow better in it.
We stuck them about 5 to the meter in a double staggered row.
The cattle will browse them but with the fence you described the damage will be limited.

Gringro

thanks Genghis Cant for that advice, that is a nice variety of plants you put in.
Is there any of those trees that you found done better than others? Or that you would have happily left out of that mix?

Genghis Cant

Gringro wrote: »

thanks Genghis Cant for that advice, that is a nice variety of plants you put in.
Is there any of those trees that you found done better than others? Or that you would have happily left out of that mix?

They all done well, some a bit slower than others but it's early days. The whitethorn is fairly vigorous, the holly slow. But it's no issue them coming along at different rates.
I'd happily leave the dogwood out.
Still, I'm happy with the hedge. It's a robust, native hedge.

Hocus Focus

The hawthorns you mentioned could be "laid" to form an additional barrier and stop the animals eating your developing hedgerow plants. Some of the methods mentioned in the articles seem to be overly complicated, you could simplify it a bit.See the links below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedge_laying
http://www.gardensillustrated.com/article/design/how-lay-hedge

FLC

Question re whitethorn hedging, I have about 100 meters sown from whips since last Christmas. Most of it took well and sprouted 18" to 30", parts not so well. I am after getting a good few loads of good farmyard manure delivered beside it and is ready to be put on. Can I put it out now or is that wasting my time? Should I wait until early spring for growth and put it out then? It is heaped in "dumper load" piles beside where I need it. I presume the goodness and nutrients won't leach away and will be fine for use in Feb?

Any advice appreciated.

macraignil

Whitethorn plants grow into small trees and a sturdy hedge if grown close together and kept regularly trimmed. They send their roots deep into the ground to get nutrients that other annual plants can't reach. If you put good quality manure on them it is more likely to encourage the growth of grass and weeds that will compete with the whitethorn and stop water getting through to the roots of the hedge. It's common for newly planted trees to take time to settle in but this year their growth should be much better without doing anything as they will have had that extra time to settle in. If you had the time it might be an idea just to rip out the competing growth around the whitethorns but the thorns make this a bit difficult. I'd use the manure on a crop of potatoes or another nutrient hungry crop that would get more benefit from the extra nutrients.

GLENNFALLON

Hi all. I have new lawn, and  grass is up about a month and was hoping to sow a beech hedge around the perimeter fence. approx 200m. I was told Id need a trench 1 foot wide by 1 foot deep. I cant get a mini digger as I'm afraid the lawn might get damaged been so new and ground still soft. I don't have the time to dig it by hand as I have 2 young kids, who I like to spend as much of my weekend with. So my question is, can I use a auger to drill out the hole for each plant or should I wait till Feb/March when the ground has become that bit more firm and I can get a mini digger in and do it all in a day.

Lumen

GLENNFALLON wrote: »

can I use a auger to drill out the hole for each plant

I assume if an auger was a good idea the professionals would use them for efficiency reasons, but I asked a hedging specialist last year how he did his planting and he said a man with a spade was sufficient. This was for a similar size job to yours.

looksee

Its difficult to discourage briars, even after they have been dug up they tend to come from bits of root. I got rid of a very persistent briar patch by digging out what I could (not a lot) then allowing the new growth to get to a reasonable size, keeping it pulled forward of the other plants till it got to about 3 feet, then coating it with systemic weedkiller. It took 2 seasons and the rather untidy effect of briars lying around while giving the weedkiller time to work, but it is all gone - from that corner anyway