The fact that hedges were usually made of hawthorn, a form of organic barbed wire, takes on an added significance here.
In my view, to replace an oak or a beech with a hawthorn or a conifer would degrade the landscape to an unacceptable degree.
However, it is clearly more expensive to plant such a hedge than a straightforward hawthorn hedge.
In large parts of countryside, traditional hedges are growing out to form a line of straggly hawthorn trees.
Among the many indigenous species to be planted will be oak, ash, field maple, hawthorn and blackthorn.
Of the deciduous species, it looks as if hawthorn will be suitable.
The hawthorn hedge stood on an extremely dangerous corner and in a bottleneck—and the railings are going up in exactly the same place.
What is happening is that a thick hawthorn hedge has been removed and iron railings put up in its place.
