Edible Shrub

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

Can anyone recommend a good privacy/wind shrub that also bears fruit?

Thank You!

 

[digitS']

Oregon grape (Mahonia) makes a great windbreak and the berries can be used for a delicious jelly. I have a large bush (over 6') between my flower and small veggie gardens. It doesn't seem to be a very fast growing shrub - there are lots of them around that are considerably smaller than this plant. Since you are posting this question here, I assume you are talking about use as a chicken food - I don't know what they would think of Oregon grape. The birds eat the berries but my hens have never been close to these 2 gardens

.

There are bush cherries but I know nothing about them. Service berry (Amelanchier) is becoming popular as a landscape plant. I don't think it would suit your needs very well for privacy. The berries are loved by the birds but they may not get a lot of benefit from them. The seed is very large and just passes right thru a bird . . . along with a lovely purple blotch for your car

.

Fruit trees can be pruned in an espalier fashion into what can be thought of as a fence - a single plane. You can google espalier pruning. Plants that would be quick growing, very edible and that could serve for privacy and as a windbreak would be grapes grown on a trellis. Some are especially robust vines.

Hope this helps

.

Steve

Edited to add: There are some very nice thornless blackberries. They would need trellises also to keep them under control.

 

[cmom]

I have ordered a lot from this site. Everything is edible.
http://www.ediblelandscaping.com/plant.php?splantName=Wintergreen&subsearch=Search

 

[PAJerry]

For a low - 4 to 5 foot - hedge try gooseberries. They grow pretty fast, produce a lot of berries that both you and the chickens can eat. You can save money if you root cuttings from an existing bush. They root very readily.

If you're in eastern Ohio, blueberries are another good shrub for windbreak and fruit. They don't seem to do well in the flatland areas of the state though.

 

[Oblio13]

Blueberries.

 

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

Does anyone have experience with Nanking/Bush cherries?