Rosa rubiginosa - Hedging

£0.00 - £5.25
Common Name: 
Rose, Sweet Briar
Type: 
Deciduous
Use: 
Field and Country Hedging
Use: 
Wildlife Friendly Hedging

2023/24 season now closed

Description

The Sweet Briar, or Eglantine rose (Rosa rubiginosa) is another excellent choice for an informal flowering hedge, or else mixed in with hawthorn and sloes to add summer interest. Growing to about 2m tall if left unpruned (although easy to keep smaller if required), this is another tough, hardy choice of inauspicious growing conditions. Often mistaken for the Dog rose, this produces similar pale pink single flowers in early summer, but the growth is slightly bushier so can be used as a single hedging variety on its own. The main difference is the apple-scented foliage, particularly fragrant after a summer shower or if the leaves are crushed. Bees and hoverflies love the flowers, whilst the highly nutritious orange hips are a prized treat for birds and small mammals - humans too, if you can salvage some for rose hip jam.