Best Value Native Country Hedging Plants

"Whip" Size Native Hedge Plant Mix - Delivered Bareroot in Bundles of 250

This mixed native hedging pack is an economy bundle of 250 smaller plants, 40-60cm tall.
It is the second-cheapest way to buy country hedging, after our 2 species hedge mix, which is the minimum requirement for Countryside Stewardship Grants.
You can order the same plants individually from their respective pages, but you will save money on the same size plants by buying the hedge pack.

• Bundles of 250 plants composed of 4 species
• Native.
• Qualifies for Countryside Stewardship Grants
• Our second-cheapest hedging mix.
• 70% Hawthorn
• 1 pack = 83m of single row, or 41m of double row hedge.
• Bareroot Delivery Only: Nov-Mar

We will choose the plants that go into the hedge mix from the following list: we cannot accept requests for specific plants to be used in your pack, and the pack may change between the time of ordering and the time of despatch.
If you want to be certain of having a particular plant in your hedge mix, please order it separately.

• 70% Hawthorn
• 10% each of 3 other native species (chosen by us): Blackthorn, Crab Apple, Dog Rose, Common Dogwood or Red Dogwood, Field Maple, Guelder Rose, Hazel, Spindle, Sweet Briar Rose, Cherry Plum or Wayfaring Tree.

This pack is made up of tough native plants that will grow almost anywhere. It is good for supporting wildlife. More than half the plants in each bundle will be thorny.
You can buy larger country hedge plants in our packs of 50 native hedging plants. These packs of 50 plants are both larger and more diverse, made up of 50% Hawthorn and 5 other native species.
If you are planting a hedge to contain farm animals, we recommend our stock-friendly mix.

Bareroot hedge packs are only delivered bareroot, during winter (November - March).
The plants in this pack will be 40-60cm tall when we deliver them. All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Please note: when you receive our mixed hedging packs, they will not be already mixed and will be bunched by plant species. Please remember to mix them for best results.

Spacing a Country Hedge: How many plants do I need per metre?

The planting density for your country hedge depends on the purpose:

• Normal garden boundary hedge: 3 plants per metre, spaced at 33cm, in a single row.
• Stock-proof country hedge: 6 plants per metre, in a double row (i.e. start one single row 16.5cm after the other), with 40cm between rows.  This is required for Countryside Stewardship Grants.
• Decorative hedge within your garden: 2 plants per metre, spaced at 50cm, in a single row.

Each pack of 250 plants will make 83 metres of single row hedge, or 41 metres of double row hedge.

Growing Native hedges:
Country hedging will grow well in pretty much any conditions. Decent soil drainage is preferable, but these plants will cope with occasional waterlogging. Most of these plants are happy in partial shade.

Prepare your site before planting:
The native hedge plants in this mix are very tough. The only essential preparation is to kill the weeds in a strip a metre wide along the planting site: improving the soil should not be necessary. If your soil is exceptionally poor and dry, then digging in some well rotted manure and/or compost is worthwhile.

Watch our video on how to plant a country hedge for full details.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass.
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
If you are planting in an area with rabbit and/or deer, you will need to use a plastic spiral guard for each plant, supported by a bamboo cane.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser.

After you plant a hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. If you didn't use mulch of some kind, you will also need to weed around the hedge. Both of these will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

Trimming Country hedge plants: Native hedging plants benefit from being cut back hard right after planting, as shown in the country hedge planting video. In the following years, your young hedge should be trimmed lightly once in winter, until it is mature. When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime.

Special notes on caring for Country hedges:
These are very tough plants that shouldn't need special attention once they have established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year with well rotted manure or compost.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.