Hawthorn

A small tree - virtually only a bush. Very useful as a hedging material, as it has thick and painful thorns. The berries are a wonderful food source for birds.

The BBC Gardener's World magazine in Feb 2012, named Hawthorn as the most important component of a garden hedge, stating "A native plant, hawthorn is one of the best garden plants for wildlife - some 149 species of insects alone have been recorded on it, including 100 types of moth".