The fruit is of use in condiments and, most famously, to flavour gin. It is well known for attracting wildlife and pollinating insects and so is perfect for a wildlife garden or hedgerow. The blackthorn is an extremely useful shrub. If you would like to eat the astringent fruits, wait until after they have been exposed to a few frosts, which will make the taste a little less harsh. If birds are eating all of your sloes before you get a look in you may have to put up nets to stop them. It has very hard wood with blackish coloured bark and a tangle of branches and twigs that end in a thorn.īirds love the sloe fruits so you may find that that begin to take more than their fair share.
If you wish to create a wind-break or hedge from blackthorn you should plant the young shrubs at a 45 degree angle in two or three staggered rows laid in opposite directions. Plants can be grown from seed or from suckers planted in the spring and new bushes should be weeded and mulched in spring to help them to establish themselves. Sometimes blackthorn will also occasionally flower during a cold-snap which is sometimes colloquially known as a 'blackthorn winter'. Prunus spinosa is in flower with a white-pinkish blossom from March to April and the seeds ripen in October. It is very useful as a hedge in exposed maritime conditions, where other hedging plants may sometimes struggle. Almost all soil pH levels, except acid peats, are fine, these plants can even grow in very alkaline soils and maritime conditions. They can grow in light, medium or heavy soils though they prefer it to be moist but well-draining.
Parts of the shrubs have a whole range of other applications.īlackthorn grow well in dappled or partial shade or full sun. With visual interest and a yield, sloes are of interest to those who are interested in creating a layered permaculture garden. The fruit is used to make jellies jams and drinks like sloe gin. It is often used as part of a hedge or as an understory in dappled shade or at the edges of a woodland garden. It is a deciduous shrub that can grow up to 3m in height. The sloe or blackthorn is a common plant that has a wide range and is found from Siberia to the Mediterranean and Iran.
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