Charlotte Pemberton
Why a native hedgerow beats any fence
A well-planted native hedge does three jobs at once. It slows the wind, giving shelter to everything from nesting blue tits to a row of brassicas. It provides a larder that ripens through autumn and holds on into the lean weeks of January and February. And it forms a corridor, letting birds and small mammals move safely between your plot, the neighbouring field and the lane beyond.
Native species matter because our insects and birds evolved alongside them. Oak supports hundreds of insect species; a leylandii hedge supports almost none. A mixed native hedge gives you flowers for pollinators in spring, caterpillars through summer, berries and nuts in autumn, and dense thorny cover for roosting when the frosts come. If you only plant one thing this winter, make it a hedge.
Four dependable natives
You can build a superb bird hedge from a handful of species. These four earn their place on almost any soil.
- Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) — the backbone of the British hedgerow. Sweet-scented May blossom, then a heavy crop of haws that blackbirds, redwings and fieldfares strip through the winter. Its dense, thorny growth is the nesting site of choice for dunnocks, robins and chaffinches.
- Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) — flowers on bare wood in March and April, an early lifeline for queen bumblebees. Sloes follow in autumn, and its suckering habit quickly builds the thick, impenetrable base that keeps nests safe.
- Hazel (Corylus avellana) — golden catkins in late winter, then nuts that nuthatches, jays and wood mice will race you for. It coppices willingly, so you can cut a section hard and let it regrow.
- Field maple (Acer campestre) — our only native maple, tolerant of clay, chalk and everything between. It gives good autumn colour, winged seeds, and a taller element that lifts the hedge above the whips.
If you have room, tuck in crab apple, dog rose or guelder rose for extra blossom and hips. But those four will carry a hedge on their own.
Buy bare root and plant in winter
Bare-root whips are the sensible choice. They cost a fraction of potted stock, establish faster, and arrive with a root system that has never been forced round a pot. Order for delivery between November and March, and plant them the same week if you can.
If the ground is frozen or standing wet when they arrive, heel them in — lay them in a shallow trench in a sheltered corner and cover the roots with soil — and wait for better conditions. Never plant into waterlogged ground or a hard frost. Aim for 60–90cm whips; two-year transplants establish quickly and are less likely to be smothered by weeds in their first season.
Planting day, step by step
- Clear a metre-wide strip of perennial weeds the autumn before if possible — couch grass and nettles will otherwise out-compete young whips.
- Dig a trench a spade deep and around 60cm wide, or individual holes on heavy clay.
- Space plants at five per metre in a double, staggered row for a thick, stock-proof hedge. For a garden boundary, a single row at 30–45cm apart is plenty.
- Shuffle the whips so species alternate rather than sitting in blocks. A mixed, irregular hedge shelters better and fruits over a longer window.
- Check the planting depth. The soil mark on the stem should sit level with the ground — planting too deep is the commonest mistake and it kills more whips than drought.
- Firm in with your heel, then water thoroughly even if rain is forecast.
- Mulch 5–7cm deep with well-rotted manure or bark, keeping it clear of the stems.
- Fit spiral guards where rabbits or hares are about, and a stock fence if livestock graze the far side.
The first two years
Cut the whips back by a third immediately after planting. It feels brutal, but it forces bushy growth from the base instead of one leggy stem, and it is the single best thing you can do for a young hedge.
Water properly in dry spells through the first two summers — one good soak a week beats a daily sprinkle. Keep the base clear of grass and weeds for at least a metre either side; competition for water and nutrients is what finishes most failed hedges. Replace any casualties the following winter while the ground is still open.
Trim for birds, not tidiness
Resist the urge to cut every year. A hedge flailed annually rarely flowers and almost never fruits, and it hollows out at the base where birds need cover most. Trim in late winter, every second or third year, and do it on rotation: one side one winter, the other side the next, and the top less often still.
Never cut between March and August. Besides stripping out the year's blossom and berries, it is an offence to damage or destroy an active nest, and a hedge in June is full of them. Shape the hedge so it is wider at the base than the top — an A-profile lets light reach the bottom and stops it going bare and leggy.
Leave a few strong stems to grow up as standards for song posts, and coppice a short section on a long rotation to let hazel and blackthorn throw fresh growth. Within three or four years you will have a hedge that is working for you and for the birds — and it will still be doing it in fifty years' time.
