The native plants which have been employed for living fences include most of our indigenous trees and shrubs, with some few which, if not native, have yet been for a long time naturalised throughout Great Britain. The most important of these will be found in the following list:—
| Group 1. | - | Oak | - | Forest trees usually forming fences by means of undergrowth from lopping and cutting. | ||
| Beech | ||||||
| Hornbeam | ||||||
| Ash | ||||||
| Elm | ||||||
| Maple | ||||||
| Group 2. | - | Whitethorn | - | Trees and shrubs forming fences by reason of a thick-growth and repellant thorns and spines. | ||
| Blackthorn | ||||||
| Crab | ||||||
| Buckthorn | ||||||
| Holly | ||||||
| Group 3. | - | Nut | - | Shrubs which for the most part fill up badly-grown fences. These are really weeds in good hedges. | ||
| Privet | ||||||
| Dogwood | ||||||
| Spearwood | ||||||
| Guelder Rose | ||||||
| Elder | ||||||
In the first group, it may be remarked, that oak, ash, and elm are seldom, if ever, planted for hedges; for in the first place these plants are usually too expensive, and in the next they are not esteemed as hedge plants. They mostly find their way in the fence by seeds being sown by the wind, as is often the case with ash-keys, or they may start up a bush of underwood after being cut down as hedge-row timber; in either case they are very unsightly in appearance, and far from good in hedges. Trees should not be grown in hedge-rows where the fence is to be perfect, as these overshadow the best hedge-plants, and the sides of the boles always offer weak places.
Beech and hornbeam are frequently used for garden and smaller fences, and, when well grown, are really useful as a protection, as their withered leaves are persistent, that is, they do not fall off until new ones are formed. They are grown comparatively quickly, and will flourish in poor light soils, and if strong plants be made to cross each other in planting, they may be trained to form a strong fence.
In the second group, the whitethorn (Cratægus oxyacantha) stands deservedly at the top of the list; in fact, it is the very best hedge-row plant we possess. It is not slow of growth in congenial soil, especially if well attended to. Its thorns render it thoroughly repellant to cattle. It bears cutting, clipping, and trimming better than any other; and though variable in its behaviour in different soils, it is, after all, capable of bearing a greater diversity in this respect than any other of our list. The whitethorn, then, is deservedly held in the highest repute for the growth of the most perfect live fence for all ordinary farm purposes; the blackthorn, crab, and buckthorn being tolerated only because they possess some of the same characteristics as the whitethorn. As regards the latter, it is exceedingly long-lived, and, if left to itself, forms trees of considerable size, which are occasionally very beautiful as forming part of park scenery; still in hedges it can be kept to any size, and cutting it in causes a new wood to spring up, which has all the characteristics of a young, quick plant.
These are merits of the greatest importance in favour of the whitethorn, which will ever make this the best hedge-row plant, as if we succeed to a whitethorn fence, which has been trimmed and kept within due bounds, there is no difficulty in continuing the process; and so if the hedge be left to grow tall and wild it may be cut out either wholly or partially, some stems cut half through—as in the process of plashing—laid down, and so a secure though not so tall a fence be formed, that will only grow thicker year by year.
Blackthorn—sloe (Prunus spinosa) is formidable enough as regards thorns, but it cannot stand the same amount of cutting as the whitethorn, and, when cut, its young shoots being almost thornless, makes a hedge of the sloe the less repellant the more vigorous are its shoots.
The crab-apple (Pyrus malus) and the buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus) may be considered as accidental in fences; and as, to a great extent, they will grow with the quicks and suffer the same treatment without growing as upstarts on the one hand, or refusing to start again after crippling on the other, they are both tolerated in fences without quite getting a character for being hedgerow weeds.
The holly (Ilex aquifolium) possesses a wonderful repellant armour in its spinous, evergreen leaves, on which, account it is esteemed as a plant for fences:—
A hedge of holly, thieves that would invade,
Repulses like a growing palisade;
Whose numerous leaves such orient greens invest,
As in deep winter do the spring arrest.