Native British Plants

[Dis86]

Lo folks. Currently looking at putting in a small area of planting under one of our ground floor windows and also a small hedge at the front of the front lawn.
Each area is about 7m in length. Soil is crap but can be improved.
South facing. Sheltered.
Big caveat is that it must feature only native british plants and preferably ones that offer good benefit to wildlife which is what I've done with the garden.
So far I've got hawthorn and copper beech as candidates. Holly and ivy are sadly out because my wife doesn't like them. She can't give a reason why but they're out...
Any good suggestions? Additionally some perennials to fill the gaps are also welcome!

 

[rich_h]

Hi,

Some good additional species for the hedgerow are:

• Hazel - can get tall quickly but handles being cut/coppiced well.
• Dogwood - will provide good cover for birds etc. while in leaf. The stems of some varieties will be very colourful throughout autumn/winter.
• Spindle - produces berries in the autumn.
• Guelder rose.
• Dog rose.
• Field maple.
• Wayfaring tree.
• Blackthorn - great for early blossom and if you like sloes you'll be able to harvest them (or leave them for the birds).

Depending on the situation, what you're after and how understanding your neighbours are, it would be good to let one or two of the tree species to grow beyond the height that you'll manage the hedgerow at. This will give good structural diversity and improve the hedgerow wildlife value significantly. Out of the list I would pick Field maple or Hawthorn for that purpose. Once they're at the height that you want, they're easily maintained for shape etc. Sorry if you knew all that already but worth mentioning.

Shame about the holly and ivy - they're both excellent for wildlife as they provide a food source through autumn/winter and being evergreen they'll keep the hedge looking nicer through that period too.

Some perennials for consideration:

• Foxgloves
• Snowdrops
• Wild garlic
• Oxeye daisy (this seeds really well so you will end up finding them in other locations!)
• Bluebell
• Wood anemone
• Primrose
• Snake's head fritillary
• Honeysuckle

Hope that helps, good luck with it!

R.

 

[Dis86]

Thanks @rich_h. Got a few dogwoods already and a single guelder rose - good reminder to get another to increase blooms.

Holly and Ivy are two of my favourite nature boons but yup, she's absolutely dead set against them.

Have a patch of fantastic foxgloves in the rear garden and 4 honeysuckle. One might work out the front actually as there's a down-pipe that will make a nice basis to grow up.

 

[sovietspybob]

I bought 30m of native hedging from these guys about 5 years ago now, it's a pretty good list of various native plants. Think i got a mix of the hawthorn, blackthorn and coastal packs they sell so ended up with like 15 different varieties in the end.

https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/native-hedging.html

For perennials i love honeysuckle and foxgloves.

 

[sja360]

I bought 30m of native hedging from these guys about 5 years ago now, it's a pretty good list of various native plants. Think i got a mix of the hawthorn, blackthorn and coastal packs they sell so ended up with like 15 different varieties in the end.

https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/native-hedging.html

For perennials i love honeysuckle and foxgloves.

Out of interest how did those hedges turn out, any issues?

 

[Chris Wilson]

You can't beat mature hawthorn as a natural security barrier if that's a consideration, but it grows tediously slowly. Copper beech looks lovely but is fairly hard to keep dense. The old gentleman opposite laid it for use, a skill few have these days, but after two years it had transformed it into a dense barrier from a patchy one. If laurel is a native plant (what do I know, I am no gardener....), some varieties are fast growing and easily managed. There's a laurel bush by one of the dog kennels as a wind break and it grows like hell and is tough as old boots.

 

[sovietspybob]

Out of interest how did those hedges turn out, any issues?

Been really good, i haven't done much to them really, i used some membrane to keep the weeds down around them when they were planted and used some powder plant food stuff that they recommended.

Only issue i have is a slightly thin but as i didn't dig down enough as there was some slate hardcore left from building the house which i should have broken up but even that's coming on along now.

It's gone from this is 2018

To this in 2022

 

[Haze]

Mind boggles that you would grow ivy, worst plant ever, avoid invasive plants....

 

[Haze]

Get some lavender growin, smells nice and bees love it

 

[Dis86]

Mind boggles that you would grow ivy, worst plant ever, avoid invasive plants....

Ivy is native and absolutely fantastic for birds and bugs. The berries are great as a food source as they're high in fat and the foliage makes an ideal hiding/nesting site.

 

[Haze]

Still so many more options that are not invasive, than something like that though

Get rid of lawn, or stop cutting it, and when i say get rid, i mean plant something like creeping phlox or creeping thyme ect, ground cover plants

 

[Chris Wilson]

Still so many more options that are not invasive, than something like that though

Get rid of lawn, or stop cutting it, and when i say get rid, i mean plant something like creeping phlox or creeping thyme ect, ground cover plants

Just what would the lawn look like if left uncut? A well manicured lawn is quintessentially English and something to be proud of, from both the effort expended and the delightful result. If you ask most any estate agent what not cutting the lawns for a few years will do to your property value, or that of your near neighbours properties, I don't think the answer would be too favourable.

Have you any photos' of such a scheme at your place, my jury is out as I may be misinterpreting what you are suggesting, which appears to be a field rather than a lawn.

 

[Haze]

Dont get me wrong, i would not want to go down the uncut grass root, but i have just got myself 26 Pholox plugs, will pot them up and then plant them out once they are a bit more established. Also dont have kids or a dog, so dont need a lawn as such

 

[WoZZeR]

Native plants we have in the garden not mentioned yet:

Columbine: Happy in shady spots when the hedge has grown
Black Knapweed: Loves the sun and keeps bees and Goldfinches happy
Field Scabious: Awesome bee plant

 

[Dis86]

Native plants we have in the garden not mentioned yet:

Columbine: Happy in shady spots when the hedge has grown
Black Knapweed: Loves the sun and keeps bees and Goldfinches happy
Field Scabious: Awesome bee plant

We have some knapweed, ita fantastic. And you're right, the bees absolutely love it.

We have scabious but it's struggled to grow the last couple of years.

Columbine looks good so I'll try and grab some as we have a few spots it would suit.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

Hawthorn and beech would be best be grown as hedges as they need regular trimming or they make large shrubs/trees especially beech its massive

You can buy wildflower seed mix which is probably the best option for non-shrubby plants

Ivy is native and absolutely fantastic for birds and bugs. The berries are great as a food source as they're high in fat and the foliage makes an ideal hiding/nesting site.

Berries only in mature plants which will grow like a shrub and take a long time to get to that point immature ivy is spreading and invasive

 

[sovietspybob]

Just what would the lawn look like if left uncut? A well manicured lawn is quintessentially English and something to be proud of, from both the effort expended and the delightful result. If you ask most any estate agent what not cutting the lawns for a few years will do to your property value, or that of your near neighbours properties, I don't think the answer would be too favourable.

Have you any photos' of such a scheme at your place, my jury is out as I may be misinterpreting what you are suggesting, which appears to be a field rather than a lawn.

This is what mine looked like left uncut for a season

 

[sja360]

I would guess the key is to allow a walkway around the overgrown area to allow it to look smart and intentional? Rather than sitting back watching it get out of control.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

This is what mine looked like left uncut for a season

Looks lovely but thats a meadow grass rather than regular lawn turf

 

[sovietspybob]

Looks lovely but thats a meadow grass rather than regular lawn turf

Yeah all the grass in my garden is just self seeded so it'll be just field grass, i've never done anything with it.

It comes up nicely when it's cut regularly with my robot mower though, below is from roughly the same angle but last year. If i was putting grass down anywhere else I'd want the same stuff but no idea if you can actually buy it?

I would guess the key is to allow a walkway around the overgrown area to allow it to look smart and intentional? Rather than sitting back watching it get out of control.

Yeah i think having walk ways cut makes it look better and intentional imo, plus you can actually enjoy it more as walking through the corridors was really lovely.