Hedgerow trees

[niftysteve]

these do some various hedging mixes native edible wildlife

 

Buckingham Nurseries and Garden Centre: A Gardener's Paradise!

[agg221]

You could try some of the holly cultivars/hybrids - you're suggesting some thornless species already, which suggests that a highly deterrent barrier isn't required, so some of the thornless hollies may be more pleasant to handle in the future - Blue King (female) and Blue Queen (male) I think are the ones. It also means you can pick a male/female mix to get berries, and throw in a bit of colour variation with variegated varieties too - there's a nice one with cream margin to the leaves.

 

Alec

[RobRainford]

You could try some of the holly cultivars/hybrids - you're suggesting some thornless species already, which suggests that a highly deterrent barrier isn't required, so some of the thornless hollies may be more pleasant to handle in the future - Blue King (female) and Blue Queen (male) I think are the ones. It also means you can pick a male/female mix to get berries, and throw in a bit of colour variation with variegated varieties too - there's a nice one with cream margin to the leaves.

 

Alec

 

Deterrent isn't the aim. Just screening. There's already a 2m fence there anyway. We have a variegated Holly in our garden and it's a good looking bush!

 

I think something like that would be the better and cheaper option. Although the hedging website gave me some good ideas!