Is This THE BEST Native Shrub For Wildlife . . ?
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- Опубликовано: 6 май 2022
- In this video we look at the Hawthorn - possibly the BEST native shrub for wildlife.
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#Hawthorn #CrataegusMonogyna #Garden #Nature #Wildlife #Whitethroat #Yellowhammer #Hedge #Native #Hedgerow #EnglishCountryside #Farmland #Wild #LesserWhitethroat #Berries #Redwing #Fieldfare 
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Another great program! 👏👏👏 to the owners of the wheat field, for leaving a wild life corridor.🍂🐿🐞🦔
I grew up in the countryside and surrounded by wildlife and fields... this just reminds me of those times.
Hi Grant, I'm glad these brought back fond memories - nature can hold a lot of nostalgia :) Best wishes, Joel
An hour long video on hawthorn sounds great. I’ve already learnt something new from this one , I didn’t know about robber flies 😳🐝
Hey Mark - sorry for the delay, up in Scotland now and just trying to keep up with everyone :) I really do need to increase the video lengths I think, there's certainly enough content out there to share - thanks so much - best wishes, Joel
They are St Marks fly also known as hawthorn flies
My neighbor planted one last year .. I planted a sugar maple and an American Cranberry Viburnum.
Its so good that you've started to give a jist of the birds , whose songs we hear in the background , gives a new dimension to the videos.
Thank you Ameed - I hopefully have enough photos now to be able to do this :) Glad you enjoyed this and hoping you're doing fine - best wishes to you and your family, as always - Joel
I think the black flies you describe as robber flies in this video are actually St Mark’s flies (colloquially, hawthorn flies), Bibio marci. They are often seen in swarms around April 25th (St Mark’s Day) until June, and fly with legs dangling around hedgerows and grasslands. They are black, hairy and do resemble robber flies in their dangling legs, but fly rather earlier in the year. Of the 29 species of robber fly found in Britain and Ireland, none are purely black.
I enjoy your videos and infectious enthusiasm for all things nature. I will be constructing a medium sized pond this summer in our new wildlife meadow and am finding your help and advice invaluable! Keep it up!
I'm doing the same and Joel dropped by two weeks ago and we put a plan in place.
My opinion too...a fly fishing pattern as well.
Thats what I think they are as well...from my fly fishing days!
Thank you Peter, I appreciate this :) I wish I'd stopped to check before becoming overwhelmed by the hawthorn - but I now know :) Thank you for the advice and help for others here on this wonderful community too, it really does make a difference to the channel. I am so glad you'll be doing a pond and I can confidently say that you'll be rewarded for all your efforts - best wishes to you and yours, and thank you again - Joel
After observing Hawthorn along my local riverbank for the past year, it's now my current favourite to cover up my dull plain fencing in late autumn. So versatile in being great to look at over the year and making my garden more of a dynamic living space.
Great to read this :) So many birds benefit from it and I like the description "dynamic living space" :) Hope you're enjoying the weekend - best wishes to you and yours, Joel
I've planted dozens in my garden as bare root whips over the last 4 years to grow as small trees, as well as part of a native hedge. Cheap as chips to buy over the winter and they grow staggeringly quick. What's not to love about them!
Couldn't have put it better myself :) So glad to hear you have these already, if they haven't already they're getting to the right age to blossom now and then of course provide those important berries in Autumn. In the meantime though they're of course providing brilliant cover and defence for smaller birds from predators :) Hope you're having a great weekend - best wishes, Joel
I used to have a hawthorne by my entryway that was here when I moved in & had to get rid of it because the mailman said it was snagging his shirts. Like an idiot I never planted another one somewhere else & I noticed I had many Cedar Waxwings that literally disappeared with that tree. So now I will be planting a border of them within other trees & shrubs deer won't eat to protect them! Lovely video!
Hi Sherri - we all live and learn, even me ;) I am so pleased that you are going to plant replacements, you know already that you will be rewarded all year round for this - I hope you're having a great weekend, thank you for your support. Best wishes, Joel
Hawthorn is amazing for nature, stuns me with its elegance and the abundance of flowers i have a beauty over the road from where i live (its a tree) and yes it looks like we have had snow overnight,ty for sharing Joel🎉
Hawthorne is definately on my list of plants to add to my garden.
They're so rewarding Greg :) I might have one for you by the time I'm in Norfolk, so you might end up with two depending on when I can get back there! Hope you've had a good weekend, best wishes - Joel
Oh wow! That would be great :-)
I love Hawthorn. I moved to a rural area of Northern Ireland last year and I'm surrounded by small farms, and the countryside is dotted with Hawthorn. It looks so stunning when the blossom is out. There is an old folk lore here that you should never remove Hawthorn or you'll be cursed
Come to think of it I did have a run of bad luck at the time I had to remove my Hawthorne tree!
Hi Malcom - so good to hear this :) Yes, I've heard that folklore, it's apparently very bad luck to bring it into the house too! Hope you're having a great weekend - best wishes, Joel
When I lived in the south, I remember all Hawthorns being primarily white-flowered (unless they were hybrid garden varieties).
On moving to Scotland, I noticed a great deal more natural colour variation (from white to salmon to shell pink to cerise. And even one beautiful, uniquely deep red one - before the Forestry Commission cut it down, in full bloom, for no discernible reason. Yeah, no kidding... Grrrrrr!)
I have to say, if you want to grow Hawthorns from seed - you need the patience of the most patient of saints!
They can take 'up to' 3 years to germinate - no kidding, and a further 7 years to reach blooming size (so yes, you could be looking at 10 years from seed to flower).
Also, they stubbornly refuse to strike from cuttings - so don't go there. I tried cuttings for several years without any success - and I'm experienced gardener that once worked as a propagator in a nursery.
Best to buy - unless you know someone inundated with unwanted seedlings, has a generosity of spirit, and you have the cheek to ask (that's where I was particularly fortunate on all counts. So now I do have a few Hawthorns kind enough to flower for me, and they should be doing so very shortly).
I love your comments Debbi - they never fail to make me laugh or teach me! Yes, I too have seen the pink/red varieties the further north I go. I have to do an update shortly on the FC antics in Bourne Wood but just as a spoiler, my friend who visits regularly recently advised that they seemed to have stopped works until the Autumn now! Just trying to find time to edit and upload the last few videos from my visits, off to Scotland this afternoon via Lancashire and Ayrshire, hoping to arrive in good time Monday to start this large bird-hide in Aberdeenshire :) Hope you're having a great weekend, best wishes - Joel
A disgrace 😡 doing that. Forestry 🌳 Commission . Useless. They need someone like Joel to tell them to do the right thing.
I had 2 come up from berries. However, I picked those up from the local park. For all I know they had been lying on the ground for years already :)
Hawthorn is edible, the young leaves and flowers can be eaten. We have loads of it in NI, as for the Forestry Commission, sigh, similar problems in NI with trees/shrubs being cut AGAINST local laws! (not allowed to cut anything atm as birds are nesting, unless there is a safety risk and there are no bird nests)
Hawthorn is very good for wildlife, but if you're building hedges it's always good to mix it up a little. Alder buckthorn is a great plant to pair it with as it's used by the brimstone butterfly!
Oh yes, I do agree with a mixed hedgerow. Absolutely. I did so out of necessity - in that I couldn't afford to buy a pack of 1000 Hawthorn plants or whatever.
So, as well as buying a handful of plants I could afford, I gathered berries, seeds, nuts, took numerous cuttings, had the temerity to ask for stuff from friends (gardeners are splendidly generous creatures, and I keep up the tradition in my turn), and finally ended up with a 300ft long mixed hedgerow containing:
Sloes, Alder, Hawthorn (of course), Apples (from pips), lots of Hazel, Oak, Birch, Beech, Holly, Cytisus, a couple of Broom, one or two pines, and added some garden shrubs like Forsythia, Laurel, Lonicera, Spiraea for extra flowers, berries & evergreen cover), and several other species I've forgotten right now.
Running parallel to this hedgerow, at the distance of 8ft, I'm in the process of planting a forager's hedge containing:
Apples, Viburnum, Eleagnus, Damsons, Tayberries, Loganberries, Raspberries, more Sloes, Cherries, Plums, Sea Buckthorn, Honeyberries, Blueberries, Thornless Blackberries, Currants, and many more I've forgotten. That way, I've planted a place where birds can live and conveniently pinch all my fruit.
No, I really didn't think it through.
Excellent advice :) Thank you for this - best wishes, Joel
My fledgling hedge is a mix of holly, copper beech, hawthorn, cotinus (for the zingy lime colour) and a sambuca nigra! I want the pink flowers, to make cordial 😊
This looks so unreal like it's a green screen just stunning 💚
I hadn't thought of that, but you're right! :) Nature never fails to astound us - best wishes, Joel
Great video, love your enthusiasm for this tree. I'm in Bristol and tomorrow I'm doing a guided Tree Walk specially to introduce people to Hawthorn and to celebrate the month of May!
I used your information about the call of the Yellowhammer giving the 'Bread & Cheese' name to Hawthorn. Hawthorn is very abundant here, in green spaces in the city as well as in woods, a great tree to introduce people to.
Indeed, I gave this video a like! I plan to plant two hedge rows this year - one in my yard, and one in my sister's yard (Arkansas and Missouri).
Thank you, appreciated! Another two vital habitats created, you will be rewarded for the hard work, I promise :) Best wishes, Joel
Have a hawthorn in my garden, and this is the first year it has flowered
Wonderful :) They're just great - and I am glad you've been rewarded for your efforts Kevin - best wishes, Joel
Worth pointing out that Hawthorn can take 4/5/6 years after planting before you get any blossom and berries.
Thank you for sharing this, you're absolutely right but the wait is worth it I am sure you'll agree :) Hope you've had a good weekend, best wishes - Joel
thanks for this tip, gives me an excuse to pay alittle more for more mature rootballs
Hawthorn, is a tree that many of us grew up with and, therefore, possibly overlook its importance. Thank you for another super video. Round here at this time of year we have a lot of bird cherry (Prunus padus) with its beautiful blossom and strong sweet scent. I suppose it does a lot of the jobs that hawthorn does further south.
Thank you William, Bird Cherry is another of my favourites, I have one in the garden and it's always visited and of course looks beautiful in Spring :) I hope you are doing well, best wishes - Joel
Heavenly Joel.... the yellow hammer, whitethroat, skylark and beautiful white sweet smelling aroma of of Hawthorn blossom. This time of year is magical. The humble hawthorn is one of nature's superstars. Very interesting Joel hearing about the robber flies. Every creature has its niche. A marvellous watch and listen as always Joel. Thank you. Paul 👍😊 #natureistheantidore
Thank you Paul - couldn't agree more of course :) Best wishes, as always - Joel
Great video Joel. Hawthorn is the skeleton of the countryside. So much wildlife relies on it for food, nurture, navigation and protection. An added bonus is walking along a warmed hedge at dusk for a fantastic display of bats. Garden wise I would add Firethorn and Guelder Rose, as well as Dogwood and Cotoneaster to really get the berry birds in.
This was wonderfully put, thank you - what a great advertisement you've given this hawthorn, so often flailed back before it gets to do it's natural thing :) Thank you and I hope you're having a good weekend, best wishes - Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton I come from an agricultural background and am fully aware of the travesty of autumnal hedge-cutting, but also recognise the practicalities of it. Rotational cutting where any hedge is only cut once every four years is a major help, but I agree we need to stop seeing nature as something to dominate rather than connect and live with, which is better for all in the long run.
@@eny68 Thank you - there's clearly a reason for your knowledge and I have to agree with every word :)
Great video! Hawthorn is my favourite tree - I have four young ones in my garden, cant wait for them to flower 😍 even without blossom theyve attracted aphids, ladybirds, hoverflies & shieldbugs! Imagine if all the hawthorn hedging in this country was uncut & allowed to flower.. that's gotta be literal tones of nectar & pollen for the insects to dine on 🤯🙏🏽
Hey you :) So good to hear you have 4 of these already, and what a great advertisement you are for them. I agree totally about them being allowed to flower and of course then berry for the autumn, it certainly would make a huge impact - best wishes, as always - Joel
I planted two last autumn. Looking forward to them maturing. Love these trees.
Thank you for sharing this I can almost smell those lovely flowers
I'm glad! Hope you're having a good weekend - best wishes, Joel
Love to see you so excited! They are beautiful plants!
Thank you :) And I agree, of course, so much benefit for wildlife at every time of the year. I hope you're having a great weekend - best wishes, Joel
Hawthorn, one of my favourite small trees, I say small but we know if left the can get some size on them.
Great to see them being used Joel.
Hope you're having a good weekend pal 👍
Hey Mick - mine too. Just getting ready to go up to Scotland, Lancashire first, then Ayrshire :) Take good care and we'll catch up soon - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton safe journey Joel.. where in Lancashire are you heading?
I love ur passion, coz i love nature!
I love that you have left such a kind comment, welcome to the channel Robert - best wishes - Joel
Beautiful blossom and smells.
Sure are Mark, I hope you and yours are having a good weekend - best wishes, Joel
You said it all Joel. What a stunning hedgerow, fabulous plant in so many ways.
Thank you Tracey :) Up in Scotland now, arrived about 1am but off to commence works now - hope you are doing ok - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton I'm OK. Take care.
Great video joel hawthorn has so many benefits what a great video 🐸💚🐸
Thank you :) Up in Scotland now - arrived just after 1am, off to the site and remembering how beautiful it is up here - best wishes, catch up soon - Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton brilliant Joel well jealous your in Scotland make sure you get plenty of videos and photos while your there 🐸💚🐸
Love it! Great vid. Great work and great ambassador.
Thanks Daniel :) I really appreciate that, glad you enjoyed this video and hope you've had a grand weekend :) Best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Joel could strimming and not raking up the waste cause a nitrogen increase that could cause a prolifération of cleavers?
There's a hawthorn tree just down the road from me. I love walking under it, the scent is heavenly! I've planted one in my "hedge" 😊
Wonderful Clodagh, just lovely to hear this :) I hope you are having a great weekend - best wishes to you and yours, Joel
Beautiful
It really is :) Such a wonderful sight and of course a food source for so many insects and cover for lots of birds - best wishes, Joel
❤️ the video. I’ve not seen Hawthorn bushes much about where I live. Today my hubby & I went a drive along from where we live in the town of Stevenston in north Ayrshire. We’d a flask for our tea 🫖 & looked out to the beautiful 😍 view of the island of Arran in the Clyde Coast. With the 1st swallows of the year flying about & goldfinches singing on top of which I 🤔 were gorse bushes. It was 👍🏻 😊
Hey Janie :) They may well come into blossom a little later than down here in the south. But I'm headed off to Aboyne nr Aberdeen in a little while, via Lancashire and Ayrshire, but arriving in good time for a start on Monday to build a large bird-hide for clients there. So good to hear about the swallows and the goldfinches really do sound like the charm they're known as in numbers :) Hope you're having a great weekend still - best wishes to you and hubby - Joel
Perfect timing. I just lost a tree from a sneak snow attach so I'm going to replace it with a Hawthorne. Thank you, Joel. DA
Hi Donald - hope you're doing well, aside from the snow attacks of course! Another Hawthorne is the best replacement :) Best wishes - Joel
Hawthorn (called Weißdorn or Hagedorn in Germany/Austria) can be made into an excellent jam!
That is worth knowing! Thank you for sharing this, I hope I get a chance to sample this one day, or even find time to do it myself! Thank you, and best wishes - Joel
Awesome tree.
Hi Joel 👋🏼 fabulous little vlog about the hawthorn & I loved the bird song 👍🏼 thanks for the great info ✅😊 keep it up 😁🌱 Chip 🌱 CHIPS WORLD
Thanks so much Chip - glad you enjoyed this :) Have a great weekend, Joel
good work
Thank you so much 😀
It’s beautiful 😍 sadly don’t have any close by, but got loads of yellow hammers. Been listen to a woodpecker for the past few days
Also happy to say, we still have the Red Poll scoffing our Nyger seeds 😁
Got sooooo many birds here on our Croft ......just love it 💜 # Aberdeenshire
Lynn! I'm in Aberdeenshire, near Aboyne, over the next two weeks - should be arriving tomorrow evening to build that bird-hide. Time is tight, but would love to come and see those yellow hammers and Red Poll if I get a chance to break away - if this was ok for you, please send an email to hazelwoodlandscapes@hotmail.com so we can keep in touch :) Best wishes, as always - Joel
I'm going to take a cutting from some hawthorn in my area.
It will take a while to establish, smaller trees and whips (for planting end Nov to end of March) are not very expensive to buy and will give you a head start :) But best of luck if you take the braver route - best wishes and I hope you're having a good weekend - Joel
I have actually ordered 7 of them to go along the back fencing at my other property in Hungary. Eventhough i have metal fencing over 2 metres i still will plant for wildlife, the amount of black birds and sparrows who nest in my creepers on the trellis at this house. They seek protection from the sparrow hawk also. Nice video.👍😊
Hi there Árpád! Great to hear from you and even better to hear about the 7 new Hawthorn, you know already that you'll be rewarded for these :) They will make great cover and of course "hide" the hard fencing, the birds and so many insects will be grateful for this. Wish I was coming to Hungary this year as I'd love to meet up with you, maybe next year? So many wonderful countries to visit :) I hope you're having a great weekend, thanks for the support - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Joel you can come and visit me once i am sorted at the other property. Get these dogs sorted out. You know the big field is a fresh start for me, so i will be planting Mulberry trees as well, the birds love them and fruit bats, I have two at this house, and the fruit is delicious. I have lots of Acacia trees, but i want to plant for the Owls, every kind of bird, the wildlife and insects is
pretty amazing out here in summer. Most friendliness little creature for me has to be the tree frog, the little green one, I have lots here. Obviously a nice big natural pond will finish the job. I love wildlife and has i have aged i do not care much for anything else..I want to attract and help wildlife have a safe haven on my land. I love everything you do, and although i do not know you personally, you come across as a lovely genuine man who loves wildlife.😊👍
@@arpadattilatilla6358 So lovely to read this :) I have two rescue dogs and they do mean that they need to be considered before any holidays or trips! Your place really does sound wonderful and I am so keen to see it, maybe if I can get to you next year we can talk about ponds and I can help :) I would love to see everything your land has to offer and of course those wonderful tree frogs. I like your attitude, I like your sincerity and I am so grateful for your continued support and encouragement, it makes a huge difference to me :) Best wishes to you, as always - Joel
I have a beautiful red Paul's Scarlet in the centre of the garden. Also a number of self sown ones, one of which has a very pale pink flower. The other ones are all white. I have a mixed hedge instead of a fence and do enjoy the wildlife. They appear and are several feet tall before i nitice. 😮
the berries take 2 years to germinate then plant out seedlings along road verges (out of council mowing reach) or plant into gorse and bramble patch out of sheep and deer reach and be the change
Very dense planting
Hi Ken, yes I noticed this from the tree guards, I hope they'll fare and age well - hope you've had a good weekend, best wishes - Joel
I adore the scent of hawthorn and if left alone make a pretty little tree.
Me too Elizabeth - and every time I see one left and allowed to grow into the tree that nature intended, it reminds me of how humans just love to interfere! ;) Hope you're having a great weekend, Joel
Hi Joel, thanks so much for your videos, they are so informative and inspirational. I’m going to plant a single Hawthorn in my garden. I need to decide whether to leave it and allow the bottom part to branch out, or to prune so that there is a couple of metres of clear stem. Is there any advantage / disadvantage of each option for wildlife? Thanks again.
Hi there! I am so glad you are enjoying the channel, I really appreciate the encouragement and support :) It depends what you want to do "underneath" the hawthorn, if you raise the canopy it would potentially enable you to plant some shade-tolerant wildflowers such as Red Campion, Wild Garlic, Nettle-leaved Bell Flower, Snowdrops, Primrose etc. By leaving the canopy you will of course have more flowers/fruit from the hawthorn throughout the year which will also help the wildlife. I hope this helps :) Best wishes, Joel
Here up north the Hawthorns have just got their leaves. Be weeks before they flower.
You still have these wonders to look forward to :) Enjoy them when they arrive, and I hope you're having a good weekend - best wishes, Joel
I have 3 of these in the garden. And around 3 holes in my hand from unboxing them.
The thorns are viscous and itch for ages!
Haha @ Jordan - this did make me laugh, I empathise - I had this with Blackthorn a little earlier in the year :) Hope you've had a good weekend and have been rewarded for your scars! Best wishes, Joel
Here in SW Devon the hawthorn blossom is only just beginning to appear.
Love the frothy flowers! In old mythology they were called fairy trees as fairies lived underneath them to guard them. Really bad luck to cut them down. I've had a few thorn splinters from them and they hurt like heck! Never thought of planting one in the garden. Joel, stop! I need a bigger garden!
Yes, there are several Fairy Thorns in a farmer's plantations near me. He wouldn't dare fell them, so they give a spooky air to the place.
I've planted my own Fairy Thorn on this weird little mound in my garden. (It's all rocks and rubble, and I think it's a grave for a pony that belonged to the previous owner. So rather than investigate, I thought better to leave it and ensure that it stays left alone with an appropriate tree).
@@debbiehenri345 That's a lovely thing to do 👍
We are hopefully getting some property and if so I plan on putting in a hedgerow, and I don't remember if it was one of your videos or another one but they recommended five or six bushes and trees for every meter with about 60 or 70% being Hawthorne .
That means one for every foot.
I think I'm going to have to track down some seeds and try to do it that way because that's a lot of trees.
I'm wondering if one every foot is too much though, with a second row parallel to that with two every meter of some other variety.
Has anyone in these comments planted a hedger from seed before?
You can drop me a line at enquiries@wildyourgarden.com if you're in the UK - happy to advise the most cost effective way - best wishes, Joel
They look fantastic. Are hawthorn and blackthorn suitable for a small managed hedge, say six feet tall and three or four feet wide?
Absolutely, there are many miles of such hedges throughout Britain! Both will grow nice and dense.
@@gaz8891 Thank you.
I planted a Hawthorn hedge at the bottom of our garden last September. They were a couple of years old when I bought them, so many of them are about 6’ tall now. I’ve got a lovely clump of blossom at one end of the hedge and I’m hoping I’ll get more. The blossom does smell great ☺️ Do Hawthorn hedges in gardens get used by birds for nesting?
They do indeed Lillifer, Thrushes and Dunnocks are often found nesting in these. They make a great cover from predatory birds too as they're pretty loathe to dive into that many thorns :) They can take up to 4-5 years to come into blossom and therefore provide berries in the autumn, but it's worth the wait :) Hope you're having a good weekend, best wishes - Joel
In my experience Chaffinches like to nest in hawthorn if it is dense enough.
Looks beautiful but wouldn’t it be better for a farmer to have planted more diversity in the hedge? Maybe alternated hawthorn, black thorn and perhaps rowen together? Would those go together?
Hawthorn and Blackthorn go together, as they are both shrubby trees that grow back densely on pruning. I might be wrong but I think Rowan probably wouldn't work well in a regularly trimmed hedge. Yes, mixed hedges are good, as they flower and fruit at different times of the year. But there are many parts of the countryside where pure hawthorn trees are common, especially in the swathe of countryside which had the Open Field systems. In these areas, the Enclosure Acts resulted in hedges being introduced 2-300 years ago and these were mostly simple hawthorn hedges, unlike the much more diverse and ancient hedges that are found outside these regions. Over time, however, even single-species hedges tend to get more diverse, as birds and the wind introduce other species.
Off topic but could you do a video for cat owners. I have a couple that are prolific hunters. The most impressive was a mole and I once watched her try shove a magpie through the cat flap! Most upsetting are wrens, robins and gold crests. Is there anything I can do to help protect the wildlife from my cats in my semi rural location.
Hi Lesley - I have seen on ebay/online that there are new collars available that birds can detect, a lot easier than bells - here's an excerpt from one of the sellers: Our BIRD SAVER - HI VIZ cat collars give excellent visibility during both day time to birds and other wildlife and night times making your cat more visible to cars and other road traffic with a reflective trim around the edge for night time visibility (helps make cats appear larger to cars and other cats) and OUR ALL IMPORTANT - UNIQUE UVR REFLECTORS - which act ike 1000's of mirrors reflecting the UV rays back towards the birds, birds have the ability to see colours in the UV spectrum and these are the colours that BIRDS SEE BEST.
It might be worth searching these online as they have 5 star reviews for effectiveness - hope this helps, as with your own experience, it's a well known fact that cats make a huge dent in bird populations.
Best wishes - Joel
We had some of these in my parents street. In some years they got eaten by these tiny moths; Hyponomeuta padellus. White with black little dots. Didn't really hurt the tree except that it looked very ugly ;)
We have Ermine moth species here too Joe, I must admit they're pretty wonderful to see and I'm not sure what they feast on here, will have to look into that. I like your attitude that although ugly the tree was providing sustenance in so many ways :) Hope you're having a great weekend - Joel
I have an old hawthorn hedge at the back of my garden. It's got nettles and ivy and elder growing through it. The hawthorn doesn't give much flowers or berries, what can I do to help it flower?
Good morning Lea :) Do you cut it back at all? Only asking as one of the most common reasons hawthorn hedges are not able to flower is usually due to over-pruning. If Hawthorn is regularly pruned as a hedge it removes old growth. Old growth is necessary of course to produce flowers. It's best to only remove dead or diseased branches. But that's of course if you are cutting it back to form a hedge... at least it is still providing habitat :) Hope this helps - best wishes, Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton Thank you, I cut a few branches that reach over the path in spring. Even though it doesn't flower much its always full of birds😊
@@leaalexander7713 Lovely to hear :) Thrushes and Dunnocks will nest and they're a great place to hang feeders adjacent to as the birds can quickly find refuge from predatory birds in this cover, not many birds fancy dividing into all those thorns! Best wishes - Joel
Is your hawthorn receiving direct sunlight?
Sun exposure is the most important factor for abundant flowering like what you see in the video.
I planted a hedge last year of 70% hawthorn. They are now about 2 meters tall. Unfortunately it doesn’t have any flowers. Unsure as to why
They can take a few years before they flower. In time they will! I'm in the same boat, this is my hedge's 3rd year, so I'm hoping next year I'll get flowers and berries!
Hi James - I was just about to say the same as Tanya here :)
Thank you Tanya, I am so grateful we have such a brilliant community here on this channel and I really appreciate your advice for James - I hope you've had a great weekend, best wishes - Joel
I planted a Hawthorn shrub last autumn and would like it to grow in a tree shape rather than stay bushy, any advice?
If it's in a sunny and isolated spot it will likely take that shape naturally. You can also help it with pruning, remove the lower branches to encourage vertical growth
Remove lateral shoots and leave just one that will grow to be the trunk. Pinch it at the height you want the branches to develop and go on from there. They naturally tend to form graceful small trees even without much pruning however it’s advisable to remove the suckers and the side branches from the trunk. Trim the canopy to keep it within shape if your space is limited.
I have a small tree shaped hawthorn in my tiny garden. It hasn’t grown much in the last fifteen years but it’s among houses and other big trees so I guess that restricts its vigor.
Can't beat Hawthorn, great for hedging, nesting, pollen and a top non summer food source... 6,500 being propagated from local sourced seed this year alone! If you want to do a 1 hour video go for it sure I would not be lone in watching it!!!
me too!
Thank you! I do ponder sometimes when editing the videos and worry that they might be too long and not hold people's interests, wish I'd done that for this now as there's so much more information and folklore surrounding these vital shrubs/trees :) Hope you're having a great weekend - best wishes, Joel
We had some beautiful hawthorn hedges, but whoever manages them have simply ragged them to bits. So consequently, no birds. Yet this is the year the government and conservationists are telling us all to plant trees and look after our wildlife. I don't get it.🤔 🤷
Brilliantly put Pat! I was thinking the same... we can keep up the fight in our own green spaces in the meantime :) I hope you're having a good weekend, best wishes as always - Joel
Got a Hawthorn Joel, it's only a baby
Hey Patsy - this is good to hear :) It will take a few years before it achieves blossom but it will be worth the wait! Hope you are doing well, best wishes - Joel
@@WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton yep I am well Joel and best wishes to you too. On a side note, new neighbours have two cats, we call them true hunters, anyway we had Great Tits and Blue Tits building nests in our nest boxes with cameras. Blue Tit laid 10 eggs and although Great Tit started building they never quite finished. Cats managed to scare Blue Tits away from that box and she tried with a lot of encouragement from Mr to build in the other one, have not cleaned them out yet. So bought deeper boxes for the Autumn and have plans to put protection around both.
@@patsyspatch4342 Cats!! Sorry to hear this Patsy, my neighbour has two pretty adept killers too :/ I have put up "prickle strips" on the boundary fence, it doesn't harm wildlife or indeed the cats but certainly deters them from getting into my garden. As extra protection around the boxes you could always fix up chicken-wire, it's pretty malleable and allows the smaller birds in and out and also prevents magpies, jays etc and squirrels from taking eggs or chicks - best of luck with it! Joel
Hawthorn for pests and alder to overwinter their predators.
Never heard of this before!
I watched the video today, but yesterday evening I made a walk with my husband and next to the city hall, there was a big, beautiful hawthorn🥰 I took a picture of it and of it's blooms and of course smelled the flowers. It's has vaguely a bit of a lemon/citrus smell🤔 My county is lately doing a lot of good things for the wildlife here. I really need to get in contact with them and praise their efforts and to encourage them to keep on going, despite the negative complaints they might receive🥇☘️🌸🌳🐦🕷️🐜🪲 P.S. did you saw my post on Instagram from last weekend from the forest strip nearby with all the native blooming plants?
What a wonderful discovery :) So glad to hear the good news about the gradual change in attitude re the wildlife, I am sure once people see the rewards of doing this they'll be converted :) Do write and praise them, praise goes a lot further than criticism, any time. I haven't seen the post yet - just getting bits ready for the trip to Scotland later this afternoon, but I will try to find time once I have arrived - best wishes to you and yours as always - Joel