The clock is ticking to plant new hedges

Hedges are best planted before March so the clock is ticking to order your plants.

Help the birds and other wildlife with bareroot native hedging, and create screens, windbreaks and privacy with our selection of evergreens.

Prices start at just £1.50 for bareroot hedging, up to £45 for premium ‘instant effect’ plants.

We are practising what we preach, and have made a start on our very own hedge on site, which will provide a windbreak for our new garden area and a touch of privacy for our neighbours.

First step, mark out the planting area. Stakes in the ground either end, with twine tied round them to make sure we kept straight, and a few extra canes along the way to make sure nothing got knocked out of place.

We decided on beech hedging and as we want a quick result spaced them 4 per 1 metre (approx one plant every 10").

Because our plants were going to get planted close to one another we dug a long trench rather than individual holes.

The soil at Newbourne is very light and sandy (which did make digging easy work!) so we added a little compost to the bottom of the trench, mixed in with the surrounding soil. Enriching the planting area too much can mean plant roots don't explore any further but we did think the new hedge plants would need a little goodness to help them get started.

If you are planting next to lawn we recommend getting some plastic sheeting to protect the grass from the piles of soil you will be digging out - it will be much easier to get it back into the trench once you are done without leaving a terrible mess!

To speed up the thickness and screening effect we staggered the plants either side of our guideline so they were diagonal to one another. With some hedging plants you can also get a fuller effect sooner by pulling branches horizontal and tying them to the branches of plants either side!

With a trench it is then a pretty quick job to place the plants and backfill the soil. The other benefit of having a guideline is that if you set it at ground level you can check your plants are not too deep or too high.

Then it is just a matter of watering in, making sure the plants don't dry out for the first year, and keeping the area clear of weeds and other plants. Easy!

Click to order hedging now