Native
Hedge Planting Guide
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What is a native hedge composed of?
Planting a native hedge in your garden or on
or around your land is a great way to grow a natural resource
for native wildlife and to provide a feature of visual interest.
See below for our guide to the composition of a Native Hedge.
Two species typically provide the backbone of
a newly planted native hedge, with others mixed in amongst them.
These two are...
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Hawthorn and Blackthorn make up 50% of the native hedges that
we plant the remaining 50% is made up of a selection of the following
species. Also native to our hedgerows...
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The Field Maple (Acer campestre) is a fast growing
native plant with young foliage tinged red, turning to green,
then yellow in autumn. Small greenish-yellow flowers in spring
followed by winged seeds in autumn. Often found in hedgerows as
component shrub or as hedging tree
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The Common Alder (Alnus glutinosa) is often found
in hedgerows, it produces yellow catkins in March and attractive
false cones, which provide a good supply of bird food in spring.
Often seen in wet environments it is particularly suited to boggy
ground, not suitable for chalky soils. It is also particularly
useful where rabbits or stock could damage the bark as it is rarely
eaten by them.
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The Common Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) is a native
hedgerow shrub, which has a strong rich autumn colouring. It has
green stems which are flushed red. The berries, although inedible
to humans, are enjoyed by and attract wildlife.
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Hazel (Corylus avellana)
is a beautiful slender, many stemmed tree that is often found
as a component of native hedges. Useful for wildlife and humans
alike because of its nut production. It also has beautiful long
yellow catkins in the spring and globular like leaves. Responds
well to being continually cut, so is adaptable to being a hedgerow
shrub
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Spindle (Euonymus europaeus)
is a large native shrub of European hedgerows. As it has a dense,
hard wood, it was used to make spindles. A great component of
native hedges as it has a wonderful foliage in the autumn with
vivid tints. Although in the summer the flowers are small and
insignificant they do result in attractive rosy-pink fruits which
split open to form four winged lobes with a bright orange seed
at the centre.
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Common Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) has
a dense spiny growth, it is hardy to severe winters and survives
being cut back hard. It is an excellent hedging species. Its yellow
fruit persists through winter so gives colourful visual interest
and winter bird food. The plant is dioecious and so both male and
female plants must be grown in order to obtain fruit production.
For this reason is it necessary to include several in a hedge planting
to ensure that both male and female are present.
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Wild Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) is a fast growing,
dense hedge plant which retains its foliage all year round, except
in harsh winters, making it an deal refuge for wildlife. It produces
clusters of creamy-white flowers in July, attractive to insects
and long bunches of shiny, black berries in the winter. This makes
it an extremely valuable resource for foraging birds when food
is scarce.
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As well as being an attractive component of native hedges, producing
pale pink, cup shaped flowers in early summer and rich yellow
leaves in autumn, Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris)
is exceptionally important ecologically. It supports over ninety
different species and produces a large crop of fruit in late summer,
enjoyed by numerous species of birds.
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Alder Buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula)
produces spectacular autumn colour and provides habitat for the
brimstone butterfly. It lays its eggs on the underside of the
leaves in early spring and hatchling catterpillars feed on the
emerging leaves and shoots. The small, white, clumpy flowers are
followed by pendulous red berries which later mature to black
in September, providing food for visiting birds. |
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The Field Rose (Rosa arvensis) is a low growing,
clump forming shrub, whose trailing purplish stems carry curved
thorns. Its large white flowers (3-5cm in diameter) appear in
late July/early August. they are followed by the production of
a red, ovoid hip, which provides excellent food for birds. |
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The Dog Rose (Rosa Canina) can be either self supporting
or climbing, the tallest specimens invariably using other plants
for support. Producing a mass of white and pink large flowers, they
provide spectacular floral displays in hedgerows in June and July.
By september the plant produces its famous scarlet, rose-hip fruit.
it is an excellent source of vitamin C and loved by small birds
which have the ability to extract the seeds contained within. |
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Sweet Briar (Rosa rubiginosa) is a strong growing shrub
which forms a vigorous hedge. Its leaves and blooms are both exceptionally
fragrant, with large bright pink flowers blooming from June to
July, forming important habitat for numerous species of butterfly.
It also produces bright red hips, maturing in August to October,
whose fruit and seeds are consumed by birds.
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| The Wayfaring
tree (Viburnum lantana) produces a dense dome of white
flowers in May and June, followed by red oval berries in September
which gradually turn dark to match the purple autumn leaves. It
can tolerate dry soils and harsh winters and attracts wildlife all
year round. |
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The Guelder Rose
(Viburnum opulus) is a hardy, vigorous shrub. It produces
large, white flowers from late spring to early summer. They are
followed by bunches of small, bright red fleshy fruit which ripen
to transparent in September and attract a variety of animals.
The plant possesses attractive, three lobed dark green leaves
which turn bright red, to match the berries in autumn.
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| Beech, Hornbeam, Holly also |
