Plant a bare root mixed wildlife hedge

Buying bare root hedging

When to plant a bare root hedge

How to plant bare root trees

Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs.

perennial

• ​Watch the video: how to plant a bare root hedge

Aftercare for your wildlife hedge

Mulch is a layer of material, at least 5cm (2in) thick, applied to the soil surface in late autumn to late winter (Nov-Feb). It is used to provide frost protection, improve plant growth by adding nutrients or increasing organic matter content, reducing water loss from the soil, for decorative purposes and suppressing weeds. Examples include well-rotted garden compost and manure, chipped bark, gravel, grit and slate chippings.

mulch

• How to grow hedges

Pruning your mixed native hedge

Best native plants for a wildlife hedge

• Acer campestre AGM (field maple) – our only native species of acer; perfect for medium to large hedges. Has an attractive buttery yellow autumn leaf colour.
• Crataegus monogyna (hawthorn) – ideal for medium to large hedges, hawthorn makes a dense thorny hedge. White or pale pink flowers in spring are followed by red berries in autumn, both of which are fantastic for wildlife.
• Prunus spinosa (blackthorn/sloe) – for medium to large hedges, this vigorous thorny plant has white flowers in spring that are earlier than hawthorn, appearing before the leaves. Dark blue sloe fruits appear in autumn.
• Rosa ‘Fru Dagmar Hastrup’ AGM – a Rosa rugosa
  Gardeners often use the word variety when referring to a specific plant, but the correct botanical term is 'cultivar'. Whichever word you use, it means a distinctive plant or plants, given a specific cultivar name and usually bred to enhance certain characteristics, such as flower or fruit size, colour, flavour or fragrance, plant size, hardiness, disease resistance, etc. Additionally, it is worth knowing that, botanically, variety has another meaning - it refers to a naturally-occurring distinct plant that only has slight differences in its looks. For example, Malva alcea var. fastigiata differs from typical plants by having an upright habit.

  cultivar for small to medium hedges. The soft pink single flowers are scented and are followed by large red hips. The dog rose (Rosa canina) and Scotch rose (Rosa spinosissima) are native alternatives.

• Viburnum opulus (guelder rose)
• Euonymus europeaus (spindle)
• Sambucus nigra (elder)
• Rhamnus cathartica (purging buckthorn)
• Ulmus minor (European field elm)