[plt102]

Hi there, I am buying a 5 acre field and want about 300m of hedging. I would like it for shelter but would like to use the fruit and hedge trimmings to supplement the diet of sheep, pigs and chickens. Could you recommend some species. I was thinking of mixed fruit and bit hedge plants as well as some fruit trees.

[SirDoolb]

I was going through my book on herbs which also contains a small amount of information on trees that are edible. I made a list, wonder where I put it? It actually got quite long. If I find it, or redo it, I'll post it.

[plt102]

Great! I am looking at a mixture of fruit trees like apple, greengage, plum, cherry and pear as well as hawthorn etc. My shopping list is getting quite expensive but I have a few months to save up :-)

[Marches Farmer]

Any fruit tree is acceptable to livestock.  Watch out for blackthorn (unless you're particularly partial to sloe gin) as the thorns are merciless and liable to cause suppurating wounds and the suckers will attempt to engulf the field once established.  Dog rose is good for hips to add to hedgerow jam.  Damsons are traditional hedgerow trees hereabouts - they flower early and give the bees an early nectar bost in preparation for the flowering of orchard trees. Steer clear of snowberry as it's poisonous and will also sucker badly. 

[pgkevet]

If you like unusual suggestions:
apricot (goldcot), honeyberry and grape winding through, highbush blueberries, nuts including cold tolerant variants of pecan and hickory nuts....
see http://www.agroforestry.co.uk/plantorders.html

[Fleecewife]

I second Marches Farmer re blackthorn - evil stuff and the scratches take months to heal.  It must exude something horrible and makes maintaining the hedge a difficult job.
What you can grow will of course be governed by whereabouts you are in the country.  Up here in the south of Scotland, we have these in our mixed species hedge: 
Hawthorn around the outside. 
Inner layer: some hawthorn (edible berries and the animals are careful enough to be able to strip off the leaves they can reach);
hornbeam;
beech for winter cover and looks;
scots pine for evergreen cover for birds and animals plus eventually cones for birds;
crab;
bird cherry;
Mirabel (the best wild plum for our area),
roses various, including rosa rugosa (favourite with councils) which produces big fat hips which chickens love so much they jump up for them.  You need to keep this under control as it is thicket forming and a bit of a brute, but pretty and evergreen;
elder for flowers and wine (will die off eventually and leave a gap in your hedge, but great if you can keep it going);
blackcurrant - odd I know but I had several which had rooted so added them to the base of the hedge - feeds some birds and maybe voles. Redcurrant would suit chickens and wild birds better - they love those;
rowan;
occasional oak;
ash - branches good for sheep, seeds for wildlife;
a few birch;
hazel - nuts and dense cover;
Field maple;
Alder if you have a wet corner.

We also have a wider 'wildlife strip' where trees can develop better and small animals and birds can nest more safely away from livestock and dogs.  In this area we grow full sized mirabels; ash; scots pine; elder; holly; hazel and loads of willow - willow is superb for early pollen and maybe nectar (not sure) for bumble bees - they buzz around the pussies when they open in swarms (not really swarms because they're not honey bees  ).  We use a variety of willow types, from tall ones, quick growing ones, ones which fall over, reroot then grow to form a thicket, all of which have slightly different flowering times.  Willow is also of course the best animal feed. Bramble ( brilliant for creatures to set up home in).  Dog rose which forms prickly thickets, small and pretty;  Balm of Gilead (a type of poplar I think) which wafts the most wonderful scent from the very first buds starting to grow until leaf fall, and is also edible for sheep.
A couple of years back we planted out Juniper, not so much for wildlife benefit, although they have berries, but because it's a native to this county but there's hardly any left.  It grows incredibly slowly 

We have a new coppice with willow, ash and hazel, all of which can be cut and given to the sheep.

Sorry but I don't know what pigs would eat apart from apples.  I think crabs give them belly ache, so would need to be a cultivated variety.


We have found by hard experience that you can't just let your livestock wander around the hedges and eat at will, because they will destroy the lot.  Ours are fenced on the inside as well as out, far enough back that animals can only reach the tips as they grow - including cattle from outside, for which we now have added top wires so they can't jump in or reach over - a huge cow hopping the fence is a hilarious sight but not what you want to see.
To feed the leaves and branches we cut them down and dump them in the pasture as needed.
Sheep have destroyed our orchard at least twice and damaged bark to let in canker.  Sheep love fruit trees including the bark, so they do need some tough protection.  Hens also love to roost in the branches, in the day as well as at night if you let them.

A down side of hedges is that foxes can lurk in there too.

[Treud na Mara]

We are in Caithness, not well known for tree cover, and the first thing we ordered for our croft which reaches down towards the cliffs, was 1000 mixed native trees. We also got some apples,pears and plums which are specifically either scottish varieties or known to be good doers hereabouts. Then lots of raspberry canes to be a fence round our Pygmy goat field as they absolutely love them, plus other soft fruit for us. Apart from the fruit which is mostly in our garden area, the rest are well fenced so that the sheep and goats will only be able to nibble branch ends when they get going although in ten years time there should be enough that we can start cutting a bit for fodder variety, particularly for whatever goats we have then.The best deal my husband could find was from British Hardwood Trees. They were all delivered bare-rooted and with canes and plastic tube guards, protection from wild deer and rabbits, and worked out about 80p each. Because of the size of the order it came free of charge which was quite a consideration where we live. We also had a couple of hundred willow cuttings which are now growing away furiously and a friend of a friend who works on an estate had a surplus of 200 larch and 150 downy birch which he kindly donated free. If you have vigorous willow anywhere nearby, take cuttings a bit later in the year, then you can either plant them directly where you want or leave them in a bucket of water till they show signs of roots. They will happily stay there for a couple of months.
And good luck with your growing.

[HesterF]

I've just planted a mixed 'country' hedge with the idea being I could harvest as much as possible plus giving wild birds and bees some food as well as having year round interest. Mine is:

- Blackthorn (I love sloe gin but I'm not going to feed anything to animals so it sounds like you should avoid this)
- Cherry plum
- Wild crabapple
- Common elder
- Guelder rose (actually a viburnum - edible but not in huge quantities so more there for looks and birds)
- Common hazel
- Field maple
- Dog rose
- Sweet briar rose (there for hips for me, heavily thorned so maybe not great for livestock)
- Spindleberry (chosen by me because it's great on chalk, looks pretty and the bees like it but the berries are poisonous so might not be good for you)
- Wayfaring tree (again good on chalk and great for wildlife - not poisonous but maybe not exactly what you're looking for)
- Quickthorn hawthorn

I forgot the wild pears and plums and wish I'd got some of those although we've got wild plums elsewhere.

Just check that whatever you get works on your soil and in your conditions. I'm heavily alkaline so I have to avoid any of the acid lovers although I think I get a greater range of happy trees to chose from than somebody who can't have alkaline lovers.

[Stereo]

Ash is very good for all livestock. They love it so get some of that in there. Also a great coppice / hedge plant.

[plt102]

Wow, thank you for all these suggestions. I can't wait to start trawling the internet to find some good suppliers and get planting. Xxx

[HesterF]

I got mine frm Ashridge trees - not the cheapest but a good range. Trouble is you're late for planting bare root. You might just get in if you find a northern supplier but here spring has sprung so you either pay a lot for trees in a pot or have to wait until next winter.

[plt102]

I'll be waiting for winter as will be fencing in September. So hopefully timing will be fine. Thanks so much for all your suggestions!

[spandit]

Have a look at seaberry - edible fruit and pretty too