Topic: Wildlife Friendly Shrubs/Hedge

[Garden Manager]

I have a hedge in my garden along one of the boundaries that is very popular with the local bird population. However there is a strong possibility that at least some if not all of this hedge might soon have to be removed and replaced with a fence. I do not desire this at all but the hedge is not only dying out in places but our neighbours have building plans for their side which part of the hedge is in the way of. Being a joint owned hedge they have every right to do this.

So if the worst comes to the worst i will want to try and replace at least some of the wildlife habitat that the hedge provides and was thinking the best thing would be to plant shrubs in front of the fence to form a loose informal hedge, rather than a 'proper' hedge. The hope would be that it would replace the current old hedge as a habitat, look more attractive than a proper hedge and form part of, rather than just a backdrop to the mixed border i already have alongside the current hedge.

My problem is finding the right shrubs. They have to look good (being in an ornamental part of the garden) and i have favorites that i could plant but they would not nessesarily be dense or 'thickety' enough to provide nesting or roosting sites for birds. So I am basicaly looking for attractive shrubs that form quite a dense canopy, ideally a mix of deciduous and evergreen and will tollerate a north east facing site (and partial dry shade created by the fence). Oh and a clayey-chalk soil! A bit of an ask i know but any ideas would be gratefully received. Dont mind about flowering - any time of year.

Thanks

[saddad]

Pyracantha will probably cope, and the berries can look very good, but it can be a bit of a monster.  :-\

[Hyacinth]

I've something similar, although my backdrop isn't a fence but rather a tatty balding hawthorn hedge - I wanted a dense tree/shrub second 'hedge' which would also provide privacy all the year round...through the scraggy gappy hawthorn I have growing a variegated ivy (which you could plant against your fence - it's easy-peasy to control), in front of which I've a number of (in no particular order) fatsia japonica, pieris, buddleia and some golden privet(!) which is grown as free-standing shrubs. Can't remember what else atm tho there are a couple of other shrubs there :-[.  Underplanting is heavy and dense also and it's all a bird's paradise.

[Kea]

How much space will you have for them to grow in?

[kingston boy]

At the bottom of my garden is a 7ft wall that i havent seen for 3 years or more. Its hidden by Carriea?(bachelor button)
Tom Thumb Fuchsia,Weigelia and variegated red Dogwoods and large leafed Catoneastors.
Fighting its way through is an awful ivy.To the right side i have a Camelia that grows next to some Forsythia,winter jasmine a couple of chamomiles?and more Weigelias.At the edge of the border and patio is a Ceanothes? This gets covered by the clematis in spring that runs along the top of the 6ft fence on the right.Mixed in is a red honeysuckle.Its similarly planted on the other side of the garden.The man next door keeps birds and i believe helps my garden attract birds to all the dense shrubs i have. We have many nests and often see a little wren in the ivy.All year round we have sparrows and starlings show themselves,blackbirds and all types of tits. A sparrow hawk has been seen next door.As the bushes are so dense the birds can feel secure in this environment of mine.You dont need fancy shrubs, just common ones that give birds food and stuff to make their nests with.We watch the birds with our nephews and neices and its fun for them to try and identify whats what.
On the down side is it takes a great deal of time to cleat all the cuttings about every 3/4 years.Also by selecting a variety of the common stuff you will have some color every month of the year.

[Garden Manager]

Thanks for replies. in answer to the dimensions question, the space i have to deal with is about a metre or so wide (part of the border plus the existing hedge access strip) and I guess about 5m long roughly, at least for the bit of boundary behind the border. i don't know yet what I want to do along the rest of the boundary which runs behind the veg plot and a utility/composting area and any replanting will only have the width of the current hedge to make use of (around half a metre on my side of the boundary).

Since posting i have done some more research and found information about native wildlife friendly shrubs that are garden worthy and grow well in or are indigenous to the area. Not sure if all that I like are suitable due to size but the ones i like the look of are; hazel, hawthorn, spindles (euonymus europeaus), holly buckthorn, blackthorn, elder (already got one of the wild sort), guelder rose (viburnum opulus) and cotoneaster (one of the taller large leaved species). I discounted others such as willow and native dogwood as being unsuitable for the site (too dry).

Of course i could go down a more ornamental route and some of your  suggestions are interesting, particularly pyracantha which I do have in the garden and is a particular favorite of the local blackbirds when 'in berry' (one was laden this autumn and one pair of blackbirds went mad over it and stripped it in no time). i have a couple of young firethorns that i could move, or i could propagate some afresh.

I have seen this problem coming for about a year now. Back in the spring i replanted the border in question and rather than using all herbaceous as before i did add 3 shrubs at the back for structure more than anything else but i guess at the back of my mind i knew the hedge would not last many more years. By planting possible replacement shrubs now while it is still there will mean they will be well grown by the time the hedge is removed. I am just not sure now if i have used the right plants from a wildlife/bird point of view. I planted Flowering Currant, Eleagnus and Cotinus. These will be added to with what ever i decide upon as a result of research and this thread.

I would appreciate any thoughts or comments on this.

Thanks

[Kea]

Consider a rambling/climbing rose, i have several next to my fence and more than anywhere else the blackbirds choose one or even both to nest in, I guess there are enough thorns to make them feel safe. One is Francis Lester and it's the size of a small tree about 8 foot tall but it spreads quite distance and could easily fill your entire space so I would suggest one that is less vigorous. Also a plant the birds go mad over the fruit of is the Amelanchier  lamarckii http://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=12417  which also has beautiful autumn colour and you can keep it at the size you want by trimming. You can eat the berries but take it from me, you will never get the chance they must taste really good because the blackbirds fight over them.