How to Plant a Native Hedge for Wildlife

Why a Native Hedge Beats a Fence

A native hedgerow is the single most generous thing you can plant in a British garden. In the space of a metre's width it gives you nesting sites, a larder of berries and nuts, a sheltered corridor for hedgehogs, moths and small mammals, and a windbreak that costs nothing to run. Unlike a panel fence, a hedge grows thicker as it ages, filters rather than blocks the wind, and quietly gets on with feeding everything from blue tits to brown hairstreak butterflies.

The trick is to plant British natives — the species our insects and birds evolved alongside — and to plant them bare root, while the soil is damp and the ground is free of frost. Do it once, do it properly, and the hedge will look after itself for decades.

Choosing Your Mix: Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Hazel

You do not need a dozen species to make a wildlife hedge, but a mix of three or four is far better than a single line of one. Aim for around 70 per cent of a sturdy, dense backbone species and 30 per cent of flowering, berrying companions.

• Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) — the classic. Dense, thorny, brilliant for nesting, with May blossom for pollinators and haws for redwings and fieldfares in winter. It thrives almost anywhere.
• Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) — suckering and wonderfully thick, with early white flowers for early bees and sloes for birds and gin-makers. Happiest on heavier clay, and a superb nesting site.
• Hazel (Corylus avellana) — catkins in February, nuts in autumn, and leaves that feed dozens of moth caterpillars. It responds well to cutting and gives that lovely pleached look.
• Good companions — field maple, dog rose, guelder rose, spindle, holly, crab apple, rowan or wild cherry. Pick holly for shade and spindle for chalky soils and its extraordinary autumn colour.

When to Plant Bare Roots

Bare-root hedging is lifted from the nursery field while dormant and sold between November and March. It is cheaper, establishes faster and grows away better than containerised plants, but it must go in while it is asleep.

Plant on a damp, frost-free day. Avoid frozen ground, standing water or a hard dry spell — roots sitting in a waterlogged hole will rot. If your plants arrive before you are ready, heel them into a spare patch of soil or keep them in a bucket of damp compost somewhere cool and shaded. Never let the roots dry out, and never leave them lying on the surface in the sun. As a rule, get them into the ground within a week of arrival.

Preparing the Ground and Planting

Preparation matters more than the planting itself. Clear a strip at least 60cm wide, and preferably a metre, of grass and weeds — perennial grasses and couch will out-compete young whips every time. Dig the strip over to a spade's depth and fork in a bucket or two of well-rotted manure or garden compost per metre.

For a proper wildlife hedge, plant a staggered double row. Space plants 30–45cm apart within each row, with the rows about 40cm apart, which gives a thick, dense base that birds will nest in and that blocks wind low down. Ten to twelve plants will give you roughly 5 metres of finished hedge.

• Firm the soil around each plant with your boot — air pockets kill young roots.
• Plant to the same depth as the nursery soil mark; too deep and the stems rot.
• Water each one in, even in winter, to settle the soil around the roots.
• Add a rabbit spiral guard to hazel and any whips in a garden with rabbits or deer.

The First Two Years: Water, Mulch, Weed

A new hedge is not self-sufficient yet. Keep a metre-wide strip clear of weeds and grass for at least two summers — a hoe or a pair of shears is enough, no need for chemicals. Mulch with 5–7cm of well-rotted bark or manure, keeping it a hand's width clear of the stems so nothing rots.

Water deeply in dry spells during the first two growing seasons, concentrating on a thorough soak every ten days rather than a daily sprinkle. After that, most natives will fend for themselves. Resist the urge to feed heavily: rich soil makes soft, floppy growth that flops open at the base, which is exactly what you do not want in a hedge.

Cutting for Wildlife

The biggest mistake is tidying too hard. Cutting at the same height and time every year gives you a thin, hollow shell with no berries and no nesting cover.

• Trim in late winter, ideally February, before birds start nesting in March. Never cut between March and August.
• Cut on a two or three-year rotation, taking a third of the hedge each year so there is always ripe fruit and dense growth somewhere along its length.
• Let a section grow tall and only trim the sides. Tall, leggy growth with a thick base is the gold standard for nesting birds.
• Cut into an A-shape, wider at the base than the top, so light reaches the bottom and the hedge stays dense to the ground.
• Leave the cuttings in a quiet corner as a habitat pile, and leave ivy alone where you can — it is superb late-season cover for insects and roosting birds.

Plant well, keep it thick at the bottom, and cut it less than you think. That is the whole art of a wildlife hedge — and in a few years you will have a hedge that hums, rustles and feeds the whole garden.