It’s no secret that the border at the top of my garden between me & our neighbour isn’t there. You can see it easily in many of the photos I take of the top half of the garden. This year, it will finally get addressed as I’ve finally decided what kind of border I want. A fence would have been good but, since it’s relatively steep in the section, completely open at the moment and therefore ideal for creatures like hedgehogs to freely roam, I came up with the idea of putting in a Hazel wood fence, kind of like rough picket fence.

Then on my side of the fence I will be planting a good selection of native hedge plants. Edible for both us and birds & hedgehogs as well as great for pollinators (some of them flower early in the year so great for when they first emerge) and they have all got beautiful autumn foliage.

The hedge plants I’ve chosen I’ve picked with great care. I originally wanted Elder – for elderflower goodness as well as elderberries – and I wanted to have Dog rose in there for the rose-hips.

Upon searching somewhere to get bare roots (most cost effective to buy so many plants) from, I found Pomona Fruits

 

• Dog Rose (Wild Rose) Hedging (6 plants)
Pale pink flowers in May/June followed by edible bright red hips that are good for rose-hip syrup & jellies or providing bird food in the winter. Great for pollinators.

 

 

• Elder Hedging (6 plants)
The flowers make delicious elderberry wine, Turkish delight and cordial. And the fruit syrups. Grows well in coastal areas. Great for pollinators.
 

 

 

• Cherry Plum (part of the Edible Hedging Mix (18 plants))
Producing tasty red or yellow plums in the late summer. Delicious eaten fresh but also ideal for making jams, wines and liqueurs. The branches are smothered in masses of pure white flowers in early March.
 

 

 

• Cornelian Cherry (part of the Edible Hedging Mix (18 plants))
An abundance of attractive, small yellow flowers in February are followed by bright red edible cherry-like fruits that can be used to make highly nutritious jellies and compotes. The foliage turns red-purple in the autumn. Great for pollinators

 

 

• Hazel (part of the Edible Hedging Mix (18 plants))
Covered in long yellow catkins in the spring and delicious nuts in the autumn. Orange-gold autumn leaf colour. Great for pollinators.

 

Benefits
I’m seeing this as a wonderful addition to our wildlife friendly garden. It will feed & house birds, feed pollinators, feed us by jellies, jams, fresh fruit & nuts, feed other wildlife like mice and hedgehogs. Having the wood fence there too means there’s a bit more of a clear border and with the good relationship I’ve got with my neighbour I’m sure she’ll be happy for me to maintain it from her side too. Plus the added bonus of her using what hangs over on her side! I’m so looking forward to making all the jellies, syrups, cordials, fruit & nut pickings, jams and sweets from this little strip of wilding 😍