Common Hawthorn

Crataegus monogyna

Jacq. Species

Crataegus monogyna
謝麗霦 via iNaturalist — CC BY 4.0
Crataegus monogyna photograph 1 Crataegus monogyna photograph 2 Crataegus monogyna photograph 3 Crataegus monogyna photograph 4 Crataegus monogyna photograph 5 Crataegus monogyna photograph 6
Botanical name
Crataegus monogyna
Also known as
Common Hawthorn, English Hawthorn, Hawthorn, May Thorn, One-Seeded Hawthorn, Oneseed Hawthorn, Red Hawthorn, Single-Seed Hawthorn, Singleseed Hawthorn, White Thorn
Family
Rosaceae
Genus
Crataegus
Flowering period
May
Height
6–10 m
Spread
5–8 m
Hardiness
Fully hardy (RHS H7)
Reference
World Flora Online

How to grow Common Hawthorn

Written by the GardenDecoded editorial team Last reviewed 21 July 2026 Written for UK gardens How we research our guidance

Sunlight
Full sun to partial shade
Watering
Low; very drought tolerant once established
Soil
Almost any soil, including heavy clay, chalk and poor ground
Soil pH
Acid, neutral or alkaline

Planting

The standard native hedging plant, planted bare-root between November and March at around 30 cm spacing, often in a double staggered row. It tolerates exposure, coastal wind, and just about any soil that is not permanently waterlogged.

Pruning

Trim hedges in winter to keep the following spring's blossom, or after flowering if you would rather have the flowers than the berries. It regenerates readily from old wood and can be laid in the traditional way.

Propagation

Seed needs eighteen months or more of alternating warm and cold before it germinates, so most gardeners buy in whips.

Pests and diseases

Powdery mildew and leaf spot are common and cosmetic. Fireblight causes shoots to blacken and die back as though burnt, and affected wood should be cut well below the damage.

Value to wildlife

Among the most valuable native plants for wildlife. It supports large numbers of insect species, gives dense thorny nesting cover, and the autumn haws feed thrushes, redwings and fieldfares.

Notes

As a free-standing tree it is tough, wind-shaped and long-lived. The thorns make it a genuinely stock-proof and intruder-proof boundary, but also unpleasant to prune without gauntlets.

Some structured details on this page (such as tolerances, pH and hardiness) come from USDA PLANTS Database (public domain). The written guidance is GardenDecoded's own, researched as described in our editorial policy.

Other names for this plant

These names have all been used for Crataegus monogyna but are no longer the accepted name. You may still meet them on old labels, in books, or in nursery catalogues.

Azarolus maroccana Crataegus aegeica Crataegus aguilaris Crataegus alemanniensis Crataegus alemanniensis f. microalemanniensis Crataegus alemanniensis var. orientobaltica Crataegus alemanniensis var. subborealis Crataegus apiifolia Crataegus azarella Crataegus azarolus subsp. triloba Crataegus azarolus var. glabra Crataegus azarolus var. heterophylla Crataegus azarolus var. triloba Crataegus borealoides Crataegus bracteolaris Crataegus brevispina Crataegus brevispina f. subinermis Crataegus brevispina var. contracta Crataegus brevispina var. javorkae Crataegus brevispina var. microphylla Crataegus bruantii Crataegus calycina var. cuneata Crataegus chlorocarpa Crataegus cuneata Crataegus curvisepala subsp. colorata Crataegus curvisepaloides Crataegus debeauxii Crataegus destefani Crataegus dissecta Crataegus diversifolia Crataegus elegans Crataegus fissa Crataegus floribunda Crataegus heterophylla Crataegus hirsuta Crataegus inermis Crataegus insegnae Crataegus integerrima Crataegus intermedia Crataegus jaquinii Crataegus jaquinii var. cylindrocarpa Crataegus javorkae Crataegus krima Crataegus krima Crataegus krumbholzii Crataegus laciniata var. decussata Crataegus laciniata var. lasiocarpa Crataegus lamprophylla Crataegus lasiocarpa Crataegus leiomonogyna Crataegus lipskyi Crataegus maroccana Crataegus maura Crataegus maura var. diversifolia Crataegus maura var. maroccana Crataegus maura var. tarraconensis Crataegus monogyna f. albanthera Crataegus monogyna f. aristata-serrata Crataegus monogyna f. azarella Crataegus monogyna f. biflora and 140 more

Others in Crataegus

Crataegus × aberrans
Crataegus × armena
Crataegus × bicknellii
Crataegus × bornmuelleri
Crataegus × brevipes
Crataegus × corusca
Crataegus × disperma
Crataegus × dispessa

GardenDecoded is an educational gardening reference. Botanical data comes from World Flora Online and GBIF; growing guidance is our own. Always check a plant's toxicity and local invasiveness status before planting, and never eat or apply a plant based on this site alone.