Looking for a fast growing bushes for Fenceline that are non-toxic to horses
Tell us your approximate location so we can suggest appropriate plants. What grows in Florida would not survive in NY.
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Many here use cypress trees.
You can keep them trimmed as short and bushy or tall and skinny as you need to.
Italian Cypress, Mediterranean Cypress, Leyland Cypress, Bald Cypress and Pond Cypress are just a few of the trees referred to as Cypress Trees. They have very different growing conditions.
Which Cypress Tree do you have in mind?
I’ve got forsythia bushes that I trim twice/yr because they grow so fast. When I first moved here the one bush was about 7’ and I’ve since trimmed it down to about 2’ and then let it grow to about 5’. I’m sure if left not trimmed it would reach quite high! :sigh: Of course if you have a winter season, the leaves would all be gone.
I looked for it on the ASPCA website that Equibrit recommended and didn’t find it
BTW my landscaper refers to it as a weed!
Don’t know which kind people around here have, but they make very nice windbreaks around farm houses and arenas.
So do austrees, but those get very large, not what the OP wants.
Plants are so region dependent, we need more to go by.
I wonder if Osage Orange trees are poisonous to horses? I know the can grow quite large but I’ve also seen really nice trimmed hedge rows with them too used as field dividers
If not managed, Osage has an invasive nature and can displace other plants. They are thorny too and were used in lieu of barbed wire or as wind breaks.
http://www.tsusinvasives.org/home/database/poncirus-trifoliata
What you’re thinking of is Trifoliate Orange/Hardy Orange. Osage Orange has been green fruit balls with a nut in the middle. The fruit ball is made up of hundreds of tiny stems the surround the center nut. The tree itself down have thorns. At the place I lived in Maryland for 21 years there was a big Osage Orange tree. I had helped cleanup up some hedgerow of Osage Orange and burnt the wood afterwards. Incredibly hard stuff and I had to burn it with Oak to keep from melting the wood stove. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Trifoliate Orange/Hardy Orange plants.
Sorry, I posted the wrong link. Here is the one on Osage orange. They generally do have thorns. That’s not to say Osage orange shouldn’t be used as a hedge. Just some info on it.
I believe they are using " Leyland Cypress" for the wind breaks , drought hardy and grows about 3 to 4 feet per year [h=1][/h]
Cool article. I learned a few things 
