Bareroot Hawthorn Hedge Plants

Crataegus Monogyna Hedging

Hawthorn, also traditionally known as quickthorn or whitethorn, grows into a pretty and impenetrable hedge in a hurry. Unlike many hedge plants, Hawthorn is blessed with three seasons of interest: spring boasts a froth of the simple, white slightly scented flowers that stand out against the blackness of the wood and are known as the may after which you can finally cast your clout. Summer is a mass of dark green lobed leaves and then autumn sees astonishingly red haws proliferate. Even in winter, the spiny silhouettes of the black branches look spectacular on a frosty day. Have a look at the rest of our hawthorn hedging options.

Hawthorn grows in the poorest soils, except pure sand, and will tolerate wet sites that get waterlogged in winter, as long as they aren't actually a marsh. 

Using Hawthorn Hedging

Hawthorn's charm is its informality and its virtue is its resilience. Once established you will have a thick, wiry hedge that no intruder would dare to breach and a thing of beauty for several months of the year. It was probably a hawthorn hedge through which the handsome prince had to hack his way to reach Sleeping Beauty. The thorns make it ideal for a perimeter hedge, rather next to paths and thoroughfares in the garden.

Hawthorn can also be grown as a specimen where you need a tree to withstand particularly exposed, windy or coastal conditions. It often takes on sculptural and gnarled shapes that can look fantastic in winter. If you are planting in larger numbers, you may want to look at our hawthorn hedge pack pricing which is cheaper than buying them individually.

Features

• Sold as Bareroot whips and older plants ranging in size from 40-120 cm
• Final hedge height: 1 - 6m
• Soil: Hawthorn grows in just about any soil
• Use: Stockproof, vandal proof, informal and farm hedging
• Single Row: plant at 3 per metre. Watch our video on how to plant a country hedge if this is new to you.
• Double row: plant at 5 per metre in a zig zag
• Colour: mid green leaves with white flowers and red haws
• Very tough, disease resistant and thorny

Hawthorn: The Ritz for Wildlife

Over 150 insects will call your hawthorn hedge home, from the bumblebee and earwig to the hawthorn shield bug, all of which provide valuable food for blue tits, wrens and garden spiders. Greenfinches, chaffinches, yellowhammers, fieldfares and many more birds feast on the haws in the autumn and many, like the wren and blackbird, will nest there too. Hawthorn hedges provide valuable habitat for slow worms, lacewings, toads and ladybirds.
Anyone with a budding naturalist in the family should have a hawthorn hedge, if only for the extraordinary range of fauna that it supports. And for even more wildlife value, check out our mixed Conservation Hedging pack, which is a mixture of hawthorn and five other species. They do not compromise on hardiness and include Britain's most beautiful wild shrub the Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus). 

Hawthorn is a true native plant and because it is so widespread it has a plethora of local names - Haw, Hawthorne, Quickthorn, Whitethorn, Maythorn, Mayblossom, May. In country hedge terms, "thorn" usually refers to Hawthorn.