Hawthorn, Quickthorn - Packs of 50

Hawthorn, Quickthorn, May, Whitethorn or Thorn Apple Tree (Crataegus monogyna) is one of the best native hedging plants. It is as tough as old boots - Hawthorn will grow anywhere in the UK and in any except the wettest soils. The legion of localised names for Hawthorn attests both to the fact that it grows well across the country and to its usefulness. Hawthorn has been the foundation of all mixed country hedging since the Dark Ages and especially as a stockproof hedge plant - its wiry strength resists the strongest cattle and makes it ideal for laying.

Hawthorn was once credited with range of magical powers. Girls who married in Spring carried a sprig of Hawthorn for fertility while fisherman took Hawthorn on board to bring them luck and, of course, Hawthorn is still used today to decorate May poles all over Britain. Together with Ash and Oak, Hawthorn was a one of the woodland fairy triad and fairies and elves were often seen when the three trees grew together. A Hawthorn hedge was lucky and a Hawthorn tree would protect your house from evil ghosts.

When it grows in the wild, the Hawthorn is a small tree with spreading branches. In spring these are almost invisible under a covering of scented single white flowers and they are heavy with red, edible but rather tasteless haws (fruit of the Hawthorn) in autumn. Hawthorn leaves are small, glossy green and three lobed. A good plant for the edge of woodland, Hawthorn is more generally grown as hedging however, planted down the back of a spade at 3 plants per metre in a single row or 5 per metre in a double one.

These are packs of 50 plants where each is 60-80cms tall and especially selected to be planted as hedging. This is the cheapest way of buying Hawthorn. The plants (or whips) are strong and unbranched to allow for easy protection with spirals and canes (rabbits are partial to Hawthorn) and have good, slim root development to allow for easy planting. For smaller numbers of plants, and for other sizes please look at our Hawthorn plants.

If you want to plant mixed hedging, we also sell packs of plants for of a traditional mixed native hedge containing Hawthorn and five other native hedging shrubs. We determine the mix, but these preselected hedge plant mixes are more economical than making up your own. If you would like to buy one of these then we recommend our Conservation Hedging made up of 50% Hawthorn and 10% each of 5 other native hedge plants.

To browse the packs we sell, including other hawthorn hedging mixtures, and hedge plants such as Beech and Hornbeam take a look at our Hedging Pack pages.