Reviews & Previews
The art and science of the hedgerow
New book explores spiky hawthorn trees’ many uses throughout history
Hawthorn hedges, such as this one in England, have played an outsized role in history.
David Hawgood/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Hawthorn
Bill Vaughn
Yale Univ, $30.00
It’s a testament to doggedness that people through the centuries have extracted any benefit at all from the hawthorn tree. It’s a gnarly, unforgiving thing with spikes. It takes real persistence and thick gloves to domesticate. In some places, hawthorns are considered giant weeds. A dense thicket of the bushy trees calls to mind the supernatural hedge that encircled Sleeping Beauty for 100 years.
“A hawthorn is not a tree most people want to hug,
