On 05/12/17 08:39, Martin Brown wrote:
On 04/12/2017 08:03, Tim Watts wrote:
On 03/12/17 17:46, stuart noble wrote:

There's a reason pyracantha is so popular. Looks good all year round.
Yes, prickly, but pruning (a little and often) is all it needs.


No thanks That's stuff makes hawthorn look soft and fluffy. I hate
spiky plants with a hatred that cannot be expressed by words alone.
Holly is the only one I'll tolerate as it's more scratchy than spiky.

I like pyracantha. Nice choice of coloured berries and it is more stock
proof than even hawthorn. The cows round here will eat holly for breakfast.

Holly seems to grow OK as a hedge on our heavy clay which is a bit on
the damp side in winter and too dry in summer (you may have to water for
a couple of summer seasons until it is established). The only problem is
that it is slow growing so if you tend to get stray cars through it then
replacements take a very long time to knot together as a hedge again.

I rather like the variagated cultivars with no spikes and red berries
and the more unusual ones with spikes and yellow berries. Can't recall
their names - a neighbour has them in their old holly hedge.


Interesting - thanks Martin. I'll look out for those in the online
hedging suppliers.