Hedging Plants – an edible mixture

The following shrubs are all suitable for hedging and produce edible fruits:

Amelanchier lamarkii – common name Juneberry. Has fair-sized white flowers in spring which are followed by black berries in June and July. The berries are delicious raw or cooked, and can be eaten in large quantities with no ill effects. They can also be dried for winter use.

Elder - The elder flowers in June, bearing large, flat plates of flower-heads made up of many tiny cream-white flowers which can be eaten directly off the branches. The berries are ripe when the clusters begin to turn upside down, pick, wash well and strip from the stalks using a fork, as you would currants. The berries can be added to apple pie or blackberry jam. The elderberry is often known as the Englishman's grape.

Cornus mas – common name cornelian cherry. Bunches of small yellow flowers on the bare branches in February are followed by bright red cherry-like berries ripening in September. The berries are juicy and tart. They can be eaten raw, dried, or made into jams with other fruit. A tea made with the dried fruit is supposed to be good for fever or diarrhoea.

Rosa rugosa - flowers from June to September and then bears orange hips ripening from August to October. Left on the plant these will attract birds right through the winter, but can also be cooked, made into a vitamin C-rich tea or wine, or used for rose hip syrup.

Berberis darwinii or Barberry actually contains an antibacterial that concentrates in the urinary tract and is said to be better for cystitis than cranberries. The edible blue berries are difficult to pick and can be bitter until they are very ripe can be used for preserves or mixed into muesli.

Blackberries can be grown to ramble in existing hedges and raspberries can be planted in a new hedge where they will carry fruit if in a sunny position. Almost all fruit trees can be planted in or alongside a hedge, as can wild cherries and crab apples.

Edible hedging photograph by Keith Ritchie, used under a creative commons attribution licence

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