There are many native hedging plant species that make great hedges and support for your local wildlife but before I outline my best native hedging plants I have a few tips on the planting and maintenance of a hedge.
- All the following species are best planted in the winter as bare root transplants (aka whips).
Hand on my heart, I’m telling the truth, a hedge planted correctly, bare root will grow and establish quicker than planting potted hedging! It also has the added benefit of being a quarter of the cost.
- Prior to planting prune at least one third from the height of your plant.
Again, I’m telling the truth, if you immediately prune back your hedging it will grow quicker and bushier than if you don’t. On the nursery we usually prune back by at least half to encourage plant vigour and improve form.
- Aftercare, nothing is more important than weed control.
Keep at least a 12″ weed free margin either side of your hedging. At worst weed and grass will kill newly planted hedging and it will certainly reduce your growth rate by upto 90%.
Hawthorn (Quickthorn, Crataegus monogyna)
Without doubt the go to species for most rural and farm hedging and for good reason. It is very long lived and hardy, will tolerate very exposed sites and doesn’t require an excessive amount of maintenance, the pretty white blossom in the spring gives it one of it’s other common names – May Blossom.
Choosing hawthorn over leylandii or privet, particularly when it’s mixed with some of the following species is one of the best things you can do to encourage your local wildlife.
Hawthorn supports over 150 species of insect providing a year round food source for many species of birds.
For a mixed native hedge with added year round interest you can mix in the following varieties amongst the hawthorn:
- Blackthorn (Sloe, Prunus Spinosa)
- Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus)
- Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
- Hazel (Corylus avellana)
- Field Maple (Acer campestre)
- Dog Rose (Rosa cannina)
- Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris)
Beech
Beech makes a superb, dense hedge of 6′ plus and is very cost effective when planted in the winter as bare-root transplants, a quarter of the cost of leylandii.
The leaves begin bright, lime-green in the spring, darkening over the summer through to a deep bronze over the winter. Beech is deciduous but the leaves are retained over the winter so privacy is maintained.
A beech hedge is very low maintenance, give the new growth a light trim in June, but be careful to avoid any nesting birds. This can be followed by a heavy trim for form in September or February.
It is best suited to a well drained to dry situation, it will not do well in water logged soils. Plant as bare root transplants, 3 per running metre.
Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
Hornbeam is a much under used species for hedging, it is reasonably quick growing and best suited to making larger hedges of 6’+. It has many of the attributes of beech as it retains it’s leaves over the winter, unlike beech it will also tolerate wetter ground conditions and shade.
As with beech it only requires early summer and Autumn maintenance. Plant in the winter as bare root, 3 per metre.
Box (Buxus sempervirens)
This is the go to species if you want a small formal formal hedge between 1′ and 4′. Box is one of the best species for topiary, much like yew your imagination is the only limit to what you can do with it.
Although evergreen, box is very suitable to planting bare root and is available October-April.
Yew (Taxus baccata)
Yew is a very long lived species, visit any country estate and you will probably find yew hedges of many hundreds of years old. It is very suited to either very formal, square edged hedges or if you want to do something a little wacky it can be shaped into just about anything your imagination can provide.
Yew is regarded as a slow growing species but this is not strictly true, it will make a hedge reasonably quickly. As an exception to the rule you should leave yew to grow until it reaches the height of hedge you desire before cutting the top off. If the plants start to get too wide, trim the sides and this will help to further increase upwards growth.
Save yourself some money and buy yew between November and March as a bare root transplant. Even though it is evergreen there is nothing wrong with planting yew as bare root upto 18″ or 45cm tall. For larger sizes we also supply field grown, rootballed from September to May. Planting rate is 3 per metre for smaller sizes and 2 per metre for larger, rootballed.