Raised bed for growing hawthorn hedge

I would think this depends upon how big you want the hedge to grow, as a restricted root system will restrict the size of the plants. Why do you want to grow teh hawthorn in raised beds? They'd be much better off in the ground.

You also don't say what size your raised beds are, width and length. This is an important factor to consider if you want to grow something as big as a hedge in a raised bed, unless you don't want anything else in it.

this sounds very interesting! Is it a question of design, or gaining extra height for the hedge more quickly? R u planning on the cultivated pink one, or the country white/cream/pink one I wonder? I love the latter.
Birds are very happy with hawthorn hedges. Good choice.

My garden is filled in with poor quality soil and concrete. It's not that big either - about 5.5 - 6m by 4m.
There is fence all around it but children still manage to climb over.
I'm going to be having a koi pond built soon and would like some privacy - so I thought something prickly would deter them from climbing over. I would like the hedge to grow to about 5ft, so would like to know the minimum depth and width of a raised bed that will be located against all three fences.
Mazaffar

Hmmmm - my personal feeling on the matter is that if I were you, then I'd hack out a trench and backfill it with something better for the plants to grow in.....i wonder if the soil is in fact as poor as you think it is - Hawthorn is a pretty tough cookie as far as I know. My problem with the raised bed idea is this - will the roots get enough moisture if they are not allowed to travel into the surrounding soil? I have no idea how extensive Hawthorn roots get....with trees they usually extend just beyond the drip line I believe. If the roots are not allowed to travel beyond the drip line, then they are confined to the very dry area directly beneath the hedge. That might be a problem. On a different note, remember that a hedge will grow rather wide - a couple of feet at least - which will eat into your space......I wonder if a better choice would be one of the upright Pyracanthas? They are good in poor soil and can be trained in very close to a fence by clipping and - most importantly - they are thorny!!!

That's an interesting solution.
But I would still need to know the minimum width and depth to dig the trench so I can make the most use of the garden for other things.
Mazaffar

I think the pyracantha solution is best - another one to grow up against a fence and keep pruned/trained which is prickly is Berberis darwinii. My feeling about the raised beds is that you don't make a solid bottom to them, just a solid surround to raise them, backfill with topsoil, and then anything you plant can get its roots down deep as it wants. If you want to grow any large shrub up a fence in a raised bed, and have plants in front, they will need to be a minimum of a metre deep from front to back. And for a hedge, that size is okay if you don't plant anything else, but if you want something else in there too, it'll need to be 2 metres deep from front to back. I'd certainly go for pyracantha - they have orange, red or yellow berried ones, and the berberis darwinii is very pretty in the spring, evergreen and prickly too. You could put 3 or 4 pyracantha spaced in between the berberis till you're surrounded!

For the trench idea, i would try to get it a minimum of 2ft wide by 2ft deep....bigger if your back is strong enough lol The roots will travel outside that area of course, but if the soil is as bad as you say, at least they will be sitting in a bath of the good stuff. Good luck with it.

I think I'll dig the bed so it is 1ft below ground and 2 above, and make it 2ft wide (external dimension). Seems like a good compromise.

I would love to grow the pyracantha and Berberis but they are so slow. I have planted a hawthorn and it has grown so much in a few weeks.

Are there any other options to using stone or brick for a bed? Like wood? I could do with ideas.

Mazaffar

Wood is fine, but you might want to check/get advice about treating it? It will not last for ages, but that would not matter, as by then your beautiful HAWTHORN hedge will be well established, plus kids will b older, so just remove the wood, and get rid of it. As said above, hawthorn is not too fussy, just keep well watered till it feels at home if that area is a bit dry. Lol - just arguing for hawthorn bcos i love it so much, think it's our absolute fave in countryside or garden.

is there any chance the roots of a 5ft hawthorn hedge may undermine the footings of a pond?
If you can image the below-ground wall of the bed and pond to share the same footings, the roots will be forced to grow downwards 2ft, and then they will be able to spread outwards possible growing out beneath the pond base (6+ inches of re-inforced concrete). Can you forsee any danger ? Because if so, I may have to contain the roots in a raised bed.
Mazaffar

I don't know to be honest....think it would be prudent to make the wall of the pond extra thick just there....you say the pond is 6 in of reinforced concrete? That sounds plenty to me, but obviously no direct experince to draw from. One problem I can foresee is that of leaves dropping in the pond in the autumn.

I think the roots will find their own gentle way and can't imagine them damaging yr pond. Not a threat.
Btw, I really didn't know that people ever put a wooden base on their raised beds, so roots can go straight down through, with some improved soil on top to get them going better.

Re pond/bed: why not post a photo, then we can picture it better?