Hedging Plants - Sloe

Name – Botanical: Prunus spinosa, also Blackthorn.

Description and uses – The common name is derived from its dark bark and skin, and from the thorns or spines that it bears. It is covered in white flowers in early spring, and is often the first flowering tree in the year. As a hedge it is suitable for any normal soil and position reaching 4 metres tall by 3 metres wide in twenty years and achieving an ultimate height of 4 metres. This dense prickly plant is rich with sloes in autumn. It copes well with any soil, but will thrive on quite poor soil. In Ireland, straight blackthorn stems are traditionally made into walking sticks, or club-like weapons named shillelaghs.

Sloe gin: 450 g sloes

710 ml gin or vodka

350 g sugar

Wash and dry the fruit, remove all stems, and freeze the sloes for at least a couple of days. Place the fruit in a suitable container, add gin or vodka, and shake twice a week for two months before transferring most of the liquid to a bottle After three months strain the liqueur thru a muslin cloth. Add sugar if necessary and allow liqueur to mature for six months.

Maintenance and problems – Trim as necessary at any time of year, it will make a good hedge of 90 centimetres to 3 metres when planted 45cm apart. The small thorns of the plant often cause minor wounds in livestock, which may make it less than ideal if you have horses or other pets.

Hedging sloe photograph by pipiwildhead, used under a creative commons attribution licence

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