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 typically 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.
Note: The fruit (orange berries in 4 magenta lobes are poisonous.
This may have an impact on it's inclusion in some circumstances.
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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.
It is classed as semi-evergreen, therefore it will provide
winter foliage for screening. |
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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 Frangula
alnus (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.
Note: The berries are toxic - this may have
a have an impact on its inclusions in some locations. |
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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 |
