Hawthorn is now in blossom, and as you can see it is beautiful. It is a native tree/shrub and usually used for hedgerows or grown to full size in the countryside. However, if you want to make your garden more wildlife friendly, then it's perfect. If you have a larger garden, you could grow it full size, like in the photo above. For a medium sized garden it could be pruned and shaped, with lower branches removed to make it more of a small tree. For a smaller garden, you could plant in a line and keep it pruned to hedge height.
As the name suggests, it does have thorns, but as long as you wear some thick garden gloves when pruning, they shouldn't be much of a problem.
In autumn the blossom is replaced with bright red berries, that birds, like blackbirds, love. It also makes a good nesting place in spring, as well.
Hawthorn in blossom
Hawthorn is now in blossom, and as you can see it is beautiful. It is a native tree/shrub and usually used for hedgerows or grown to full size in the countryside. However, if you want to make your garden more wildlife friendly, then it's perfect. If you have a larger garden, you could grow it full size, like in the photo above. For a medium sized garden it could be pruned and shaped, with lower branches removed to make it more of a small tree. For a smaller garden, you could plant in a line and keep it pruned to hedge height.
As the name suggests, it does have thorns, but as long as you wear some thick garden gloves when pruning, they shouldn't be much of a problem.
In autumn the blossom is replaced with bright red berries, that birds, like blackbirds, love. It also makes a good nesting place in spring, as well.