An angled cut along the top corner of a hedge lets more light in
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What Are Bare Root Plants?
Bareroot means delivered dormant in Winter with no soil around the roots.
Planting a Formal Garden Hedge Like Beech or Yew
How to Trench Plant a garden hedge like Beech or Yew in well dug soil.
Planting A Bareroot Mixed Native Country Hedge
How to Slit Plant bareroot whips like Hawthorn in mixed native hedges
How to Plant a Tree With a Stake
Planting with a stake is optional but highly recommended.
Collecting Your Order From Ashridge
Park safely when you come to collect your order
How to Say Coppice and Coppicing
The managed woodland is a copse (coppice), the pruning action is to coppice
Which Plants To Use in a Mixed Native Hedge
Most mixed native hedges are mainly hawthorn or blackthorn
March Weather: Happy Bareroot Planting Days
March 2025 is looking to be an exceptionally good bareroot planting month
Get As Many Fruit Varieties As Possible From A Small Area
Cordon apples & pears are even better suited to grafting than freestanding trees
Trimming Country Hedge Season & Cycle
Unlike garden hedges, country hedges are typically trimmed every 2-3 years
You Won’t Believe This Irish Hedge
Laying mulch fabric before VS after planting.
Do Hedges Block Road Noise & Other Sounds?
Hedges don’t reduce road noise
Countryside Stewardship Hedge Grants
The Countryside Stewardship new hedge grant BN11 covers the cost of a native hedge
Are My Plants Dead?
Bareroot plants can be very late coming into leaf & evergreens can drop their leaves
“Heeling In” Bareroot Trees & Plants
The best way to store bareroot plants is also usually too much work
Planting Bareroot Guide
New User’s Guide to Planting Bare Root
Planting in Frosty Weather & Frozen Ground
You can’t plant in frozen soil, and bare roots should not be moved when frozen anyway
Best Plants For Low, Small, Narrow Hedges
The Best Plants for Small Hedges Low Ornamental & Border Hedges Plants Low hedging is roughly shin to waist high, approximately 30cm to 120cm tall (between 1 and 4 feet). The purpose of low hedges is mainly ornamental: to create structure in or around the garden that frames borders and lawns without blocking the view.It acts… Continue reading Best Plants For Low, Small, Narrow Hedges
Formative Pruning New Hedges
Pruning Young Hedges While Growing to Mature Size Formative pruning of a new hedge is handled differently from trimming a mature hedge. Because you want your new hedge to reach the desired height, the general aim is to remove the tips of the stems all over the plant once a year, maybe twice for vigorous evergreens. Deciduous Hedges Evergreen Broadleaf Hedges Evergreen Conifer… Continue reading Formative Pruning New Hedges
Best Hedges For Shade
Best Hedge Plants for Shade If you look in our Hedging category filtered for Full Shade, you will see mostly evergreen plants, and some tough native plants.Most garden owners are looking for lush evergreens along a visible boundary, but Hornbeam is a good formal choice for shady areas where sun-loving Beech won’t grow well. Best Evergreen Hedge Plants for Shade Special Mention… Continue reading Best Hedges For Shade
How to Trim a Garden Hedge
Trimming a Hedge Means Mature Hedge: Cut off practically all the new growth (less than a year old), in order to keep a mature hedge at the desired size. It’s like shaving back to the same line every time. New Hedge: Cut off the tips of all the shoots, pruning back thin or straggly stems, to maintain bushy growth while… Continue reading How to Trim a Garden Hedge
Cutting Back A Pyracantha Hedge Hard
Pyracantha, like almost any broadleaf, hardwood hedge plant, can be hard pruned as needed to reduce its size and keep it tidy. In this video, we take the opportunity to show training it against a fence as well. You will need a good pair of secateurs, leather gloves, pruning saw or loppers and some garden… Continue reading Cutting Back A Pyracantha Hedge Hard
Double Staggered Row Hedge Planting Distance
Difference between a garden single row hedge, and a double row country hedge? Most garden hedges are planted in a single row, three plants per metre, 33cm apart. This page is about planting distances for a staggered double row with a total of 6 plants per metre. This qualifies for the BN11: Planting New Hedges Grant,… Continue reading Double Staggered Row Hedge Planting Distance
How Many Hedge Plants Per Metre?
Hedgerow Planting Density Hedge Spacing Used For Single Row at 2 Plants Per Metre Inside the garden Single Row at 3 Plants Per Metre Typical garden boundary: Intruder proof Single Row at 5 Plants Per Metre Used for Boxwood Double Row at 4 Plants Per Metre Good for any tall hedge over 4m, and for… Continue reading How Many Hedge Plants Per Metre?
How to Plant Rootballed Yew Hedging
Yew is the King of Hedges for good reason, but it grows steadily rather than vigorously, so a new Yew hedge takes a bit more time to reach the desired size. If it suits your budget, it makes sense to buy large Yew plants delivered with a rootball, rather than bareroot smaller size plants. Spacing Bareroot Vs Rootballed Yew 1.… Continue reading How to Plant Rootballed Yew Hedging
What Is Mulch & Why It’s Important for New Plants
What Does Mulch Do? Mulch covers the soil around a plant in order to: If it is going to be hard to frequently water and weed your new plants after planting, mulch is essential for your plants to thrive.Establishing plants must still be watered, but a good mulch allows you to water less often. Homemade… Continue reading What Is Mulch & Why It’s Important for New Plants
Opening Packs of Spiral Guards
Open rabbit spirals quickly like a pro, smoothly separating rolls out into 5 individual guards Hedge spirals, rabbit guards, are manufactured in rolls of 5, coiled up like springs: the harder you try to pull them apart, the more they grip one another. Unwinding them from the outside takes too long. To pull them apart… Continue reading Opening Packs of Spiral Guards
Watering Newly Planted Trees & Hedging
Proper watering is crucial for all new plants while they are establishing. Watering New Plants Water all new plants deeply and regularly during their first growing season. This includes plants that are drought tolerant: they all need you to water them in Year One. Best Time of Day to Water How often to Water New Plants Frequency varies depending… Continue reading Watering Newly Planted Trees & Hedging
Trimming & Hard Pruning Yew Hedges
Best Time to Trim Yew Hedges To keep a mature yew hedge tidy with only one cut per year, the ideal time is September-October. How to Prune a Yew Hedge You do need to clip yew plants to make them bushy – shortening side branches causes them to produce the twiggy growths that help make a… Continue reading Trimming & Hard Pruning Yew Hedges
Planting A Box Hedge
Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) is a tough little evergreen, one of the relatively few hedge plants that is genuinely happy in shade. Once established, Box survives in dry ground. Box grows slowly and clips very neatly, a perfect choice for a low hedge or living border edging, an ideal subject for topiary. Bareroot box hedge plants are… Continue reading Planting A Box Hedge
Pruning New Fruit Trees
Formative pruning of new, freestanding fruit trees, starts with either unbranched Maidens, or young Bushes or Half Standards with a further year’s branch development. Pruning A Maiden Fruit Tree “Open Centre” These videos apply equally to new fruit trees containing pips like apples and pears, and those containing stones, like plum and cherry, being grown as “ordinary trees”. There are… Continue reading Pruning New Fruit Trees