Which Plants To Use in a Mixed Native Hedge

The exact list of what species you’re going to plant in your native hedge is clearly defined: “well, mate, it depends”

Picking which plants should go in your mixed native hedge happens in two ways: either it’s done to meet the requirements of a grant, or it’s freestyle.

Choosing A Hedge Mix for A Grant Funding

The default basic mixed native country hedge is at least two species, one or both of which will be “thorn”, meaning hawthorn and/or blackthorn.

To qualify for the most common government hedge grant, the Countryside Stewardship BN11, that mix must be no more than 70% of one species
Other grants have their own requirements, often attuned to a region’s traditional hedge management
Practically all grants specify native species

In practice, most new mixed native hedges in the UK are planted in mixes of 4-6 species, with local exceptions for traditional single species hedges, like beech hedgerows on top of stone hedgebank walls around Devon, or vigorous hazel in some wet, shady locations.

In large scale planting, the cheapest ready made mixes are used: that’s our Countryside Stewardship Grant hedge mix, which comes in a basic 2 species mix to meet the grant requirements, or a prettier 5 species mix that supports more wildlife.

Choosing A Freestyle Mixed Country Hedge

If you are not planting for a grant, you can plant what you like, including:

All a single species, with one big rambling rose near the gate for fun
Super DiverseTM with over 20 native species
Species that aren’t traditional for hedges e.g. birch, oak, sycamore, mixed with thorny canes like blackberry and wild rose (see section below)
Even non-native, e.g. deciduous berberis is ideal with its dense thorny thicket growth is great for nesting birds, and ornamental dogwoods in the mix add winter colour. Same for hedgerow trees: anything you please!

Blackthorn / Sloe: Berries are used in Sloe Gin. Flowers in very early spring, before any leaves appear. Not suitable for chalk.
Hazel: Naturally bushy from the base. Very good for supporting bees. Any soil, including wet. Fine for very windy sites but not the coast.
Crab Apple: Fruit can be used in crabapple jelly. Lovely pink-white blossom.
Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus): Not actually a rose! Round bunches of white flowers that turn into bright red berries. Great autumn colour. Fine for chalk & heavy clay, not for acidic soils.
Hawthorn / Quickthorn: The all-time best country hedge plant. A typical mixed native hedge is 50% hawthorn, planted in every other space. Any soil except waterlogged; damp, heavy clay is fine.
King Edward VII Flowering Currant: Makes lovely showers of pink flowers, even in shady spots.
Maple, Field: Warm autumn colour. Any well drained soil.
Pear, Wild: Lovely dense plant. Small fruit can be used for hedgerow jam. Any soil, pollution & drought tolerant.
Privet, Wild: Not evergreen like the privet you see in city hedges, but otherwise very similar.
Rose, Dog: Dog rose is the cheapest and the best, but for a splash more colour you can throw in a few of the other wild roses.
Spindleberry: Bursts of colour with pink & orange fruit and pink autumn leaves.
Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum lantana): Great autumn colour. Grows well on chalk.
Green beech: traditional on top of sunny, exposed banks in the South West, such as Exmoor

Which Plants Not to Use in a Mixed Country Hedge

This list of native trees that aren’t ideal for a country hedge needs some clarifying.

Most are fine to have dotted around in a mixed country hedge of the plants listed above.
Despite not being planted, their seeds will eventually find their way into establised hedges, and are no problem.

But if you were to make a hedge from them exclusively, like you might with Hawthorn, the results would be gappy and unsatisfactory, especially in Winter:

Oak
Horse Chestnut
Willow
Sycamore
Birch
Ash
Lime
Native Cherries (Prunus avium and P. padus)

When those plants are mixed with enough thorny species to provide thorny growth, the combination serves perfectly well.

Elderflower Is OK By Itself

Elderflower, Sambucus nigra, is a bully in a mixed hedge that needs extra cutting back to stop it taking over.
A pure Elder hedge works fine, even if it looks a bit rough in Winter, and it will grow in all conditions.

Blackberries and Other Thorny Canes

If you do a little work to maintain them, it’s fine to sprinkle some wild blackberry brambles in your hedge, or a nice vigorous Bedford Giant next to a gate where you’ll have a few fruit for yourself.
You can plant them at the same as the hedge and cut them back if they get too big too quickly, and they are great for quickly filling gaps in mature hedges.
Brambles should not be allowed to take over, so every other year, reach into the base of the hedge and cut all the thick old stems near ground level, avoiding the thin new shoots.