Midland hawthorn

Midland hawthorn: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Shrub or small tree of 4–8 m with a dense, rounded crown about 5 m across; often grown as a hedge.

Leaf

Alternate, 2–5 cm, obovate with 3–5 shallow, rounded and finely toothed lobes; glossy dark green.

Bark

Grey-brown, smooth to finely scaly; twigs with thorns 0.5–2 cm long.

Flower

Clusters of white flowers with 2–3 styles, in April–May. Pink or red in the ornamental cultivars, often double.

Fruit

Dark red haws 8–12 mm across with 2–3 stones.

Difference from common hawthorn

Common hawthorn has a more deeply cut leaf with 3–7 lobes and haws with a single stone; hybrids are common.

Difference from firethorn

Firethorn is evergreen, with an unlobed leaf and orange or red berries in dense clusters.

Flowering: May · Harvest and fruit: May and September–October · Pruning: June–September and November–March

Identify by feature: Lobed leaves (like an oak) · White blossom · Red berries · Thorns or prickles

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna: more deeply cut leaf with 3–7 lobes, and haws with a single stone; hybrids are common. Difference from hawthorn
• Firethorn Pyracantha: evergreen, unlobed leaf and orange or red berries in dense clusters. Difference from firethorn

Why grow it?

• A native, thorny hedge that can be clipped tightly and gives birds a safe place to nest.
• Flowers in April–May, a little earlier than common hawthorn: nectar and pollen for bees and other insects.
• Dark red haws in autumn for thrushes, blackbirds and other birds.
• The red- and pink-flowered forms are compact flowering trees for a small garden or a street.
• Tolerates more shade than common hawthorn: good for a woodland edge or a hedge in partial shade.

Midland hawthorn: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade: it tolerates more shade than common hawthorn, but flowers most freely in sun.
• Almost any soil that doesn’t dry out or stay waterlogged for long; it likes loam and clay best.
• As a tree about 5 m across; as a hedge it fits in any garden.
• Can carry fire blight: don’t plant it right next to apple or pear trees.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

7 m tall, 5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Hawthorn: Together in a mixed hedge; they flower one after the other.
• Hazel: A native shrub that, like Midland hawthorn, likes a woodland edge on loam.
• Common honeysuckle: Climbs through the hedge and is fragrant in the evening for moths.
• Dog rose: Flowers in June, after the hawthorn, and bears hips in autumn.

Good and bad companions

Best kept away from

• Fruit trees that can catch fireblight from this plant: apple, pear, nashi pear

Midland hawthorn: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, bare-root or root-balled; ornamental trees such as ‘Paul’s Scarlet’ are usually sold root-balled or in a pot.
2. For a hedge: 3–5 plants per metre in a single row, or 5–7 per metre in a staggered double row.
3. Cut hedging plants back by a third after planting so that they branch from the base.
4. Stake a small ornamental tree and tie the trunk loosely; remove stake and tie after 2–3 years.
5. Water after planting, mulch, and keep the strip free of grass for the first few years.

Care

Watering

In dry spells in the first year; rarely needed after that.

Feeding

Not needed; a little compost under a young hedge in spring.

Suckers

On grafted ornamental trees, shoots sometimes grow from the rootstock below the graft union: remove them as soon as you see them.

Fire blight

In summer, watch for brown-black shoot tips that look scorched and curl over like a shepherd’s crook.

Tip: Want a red hawthorn as a flowering tree? Choose a single-flowered cultivar if you can: it still bears haws for the birds, whereas double-flowered cultivars such as ‘Paul’s Scarlet’ produce few or none.

Midland hawthorn: when to prune it?

Pruning months: June–September and November–March.

When: Trim a hedge after flowering, in late June, and if needed in late August. Prune a tree in winter.

How:

• Tolerates hard pruning: a neglected hedge can be cut back hard in winter.
• Trim a hedge slightly narrower at the top than at the bottom, so the base gets light too.
• Prune an ornamental tree lightly: remove dead, crossing and low branches. On grafted trees, remove shoots from the rootstock (below the graft union).
• Wear sturdy gloves and long sleeves against the thorns.

Caution: Don’t trim during the nesting season while birds are still nesting in the hedge: check first. Disinfect your secateurs after cutting out branches with fire blight.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Sowing

Take the stones out of ripe haws and sow them outdoors in a pot in autumn; they often germinate only in their second spring. Seedlings of the red and pink cultivars usually flower white.

Grafting

The red- and pink-flowered cultivars are grafted by the nursery onto a hawthorn rootstock.

Midland hawthorn: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy.
• The haws often hang on into winter: food for thrushes, blackbirds and fieldfares. Double-flowered cultivars bear few or no haws.

Diseases and pests

• Fire blight: Flowers and shoot tips suddenly turn brown-black, as if scorched, and the tips curl over. In dry weather, cut affected branches well back into healthy wood and disinfect your secateurs.
• Leaf spot: Small brown spots on the leaves, which turn yellow and drop as early as July–August in wet summers; especially on ‘Paul’s Scarlet’. Clear up the fallen leaves; the tree leafs out normally the following year.
• Ermine moth: In May–June the hedge is sometimes covered in grey-white webs full of caterpillars that strip the leaves. It looks alarming, but the shrub leafs out again in summer.
• Powdery mildew: White, powdery coating on young shoots, especially on clipped hedges. Usually harmless.

Through the year

• January: Winter pruning of free-standing shrubs and trees; cut back an old hedge.
• February: Winter pruning; remove rootstock shoots from grafted trees.
• March: Last month for winter pruning and planting.
• April: Flowering begins, a little earlier than common hawthorn.
• May: In full flower: white, or pink and red in the ornamental cultivars.
• June: Trim the hedge after flowering (late June), once no birds are nesting in it.
• July: Watch for fire blight and cut out affected shoots.
• August: Second trim of the hedge in late August, if needed.
• September: Last trim of the hedge; the haws turn dark red.
• October: Haws for the birds; sow the stones.
• November: Plant hedging and ornamental trees; winter pruning can begin.
• December: Winter pruning of trees and free-standing shrubs.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Thorny hedge and small flowering tree; its pink and red forms are common in streets.

For wildlife

Like common hawthorn, a top plant: flowers for insects, haws for birds and safe nest sites.

Caution: Host of fire blight. Wear sturdy gloves when pruning.

Edible and useful

Blossom (May)

Pick the blossom in May, when the flowers have just opened and the stamens are still pink or white. Do it on a dry, sunny day and snip whole clusters with scissors (wear gloves against the thorns). Shake out any insects and use the blossom fresh or dry it. Pick only fresh, newly opened flowers: older blossom smells unpleasant. Take only a small share: every flower you pick is one haw less for the birds.

Berries (September–October)

Pick the haws in September and October, when they are dark red, glossy and firm, before the first hard frost. Snip whole clusters with gloves on and strip the haws from the stalks at home. Raw, they are mealy and bland, so cook or dry them. Each haw holds 2–3 hard stones that you do not eat: strain them out. Leave plenty of haws on the bush: they are important winter food for thrushes, fieldfares and mammals.

Storing

The blossom can be dried: spread it in a thin layer on a rack or on paper in an airy, shady place and keep it in a closed jar. Haws can be dried in an oven at 50–60 °C or frozen. Jelly and ketchup keep in sterilised jars and bottles: a year for the jelly, a few months for the ketchup.

Caution: Raw haws are mealy and the stones contain traces of amygdalin: do not eat the stones and strain them out. Do not confuse haws with other red berries: yew has red, slimy cups with one black seed, which is highly poisonous, and needles instead of lobed leaves. The berries of cotoneaster, firethorn and honeysuckle are not suitable either. Hawthorn is recognised by its thorns, lobed leaves and berries with 2–3 stones. If you take medication for the heart or blood pressure, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before regularly drinking hawthorn tea or syrup. Do not pick beside busy roads, from sprayed hedges or in nature reserves, and wear sturdy gloves. Never eat anything you have not identified with certainty.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Hawthorn berry jelly (Jelly · ± 4 jars of 250 ml · 1 hr + 1 night draining)
• Haw ketchup (Dish · ± 400 ml · 1 hr 15 min)
• Hawthorn blossom cordial (Syrup · ± 700 ml · 20 min + 24 hrs steeping)
• Hawthorn tea from flowers and berries (Tea · ± 10 cups of each · 20 min + 1 week drying)

Did you know?

• The red- and pink-flowered hawthorns in streets and gardens, such as double-flowered ‘Paul’s Scarlet’, are forms of Midland hawthorn.
• The species name laevigata means ‘made smooth’ and refers to the glossy leaf.
• In the wild it is less common than common hawthorn and found mainly in old woodland and woodland edges; where the two grow together, many hybrids arise.