Mixed native bare root hedging packs

Bare Root Mixed Native Farm Hedging Summary

Britain has over 1 million km of farm hedging, all originally planted as mixed native bare root hedging plants.  Sadly many of these hedgerows are not in the best of shape and need "gapping up" and our plants are just as suitable for this purpose as for the establishment of new hedgerows.  All the plants sold in this section are grown by us in Herefordshire to the highest quality standards and they are all suitable for growing in all soils (other than waterlogged areas), in full sun or partial shade (every situation other than the deepest shade).  If you have challenging soil conditions or situation, please feel free to call us for advice on 01989 552028.

Species in our packs

We offer Hawthorn based mixed native bare root hedging packs and Blackthorn based mixed native bare root hedging packs.  The Hawthorn based packs contain 50% Hawthorn, 30% Blackthorn and 5% each of 4 additional species - Hazel, Field Maple, Crab Apple, and Dog Rose.  The Blackthorn based packs contain 50% Blackthorn, 30% Hawthorn and 5% each of the additional 4 species.  We recommend the Blackthorn based packs for damper soils and where very early flowering is required (Blackthorn flowers before Hawthorn).  Both packs are very economical and are all discounted off the normal prices if you were to add the same plants to your shopping basket on this website.   All species used are reliable, easy to grow in almost all soils and situations and take well to hedge laying or being trimmed by flail.  All species are livestock friendly but we do not recommend blackthorn for horse paddocks.

All of the plants in our mixed native bare root packs are grown by us in Herefordshire.  We cannot adjust the species in these mixed packs but if our pre selected mixture doesnt suit you, you can order your own choice of plants on our website.

How to attract more wildlife

You can make a hedgerow even more wildlife friendly by adding additional species of hedging plant to the basic mix – and to an extent this will happen gradually as birds and wind deposit seeds of other species into a new hedge.  The varieties we recommend if you are looking to increase the number of plant species would be Elder, Holly, Wild Cherry or Bird Cherry, Purging Buckthorn or Alder Buckthorn, Spindle, Cornus sanguinea, Wild Privet, Viburnum opulus and Cherry Plum.

Cheaper hedging options

You can make a hedgerow cheaper by buying the discounted mixed hedgerow packs and then adding more of the cheaper constituents (Hawthorn and Blackthorn) so that the proportion of Hawthorn and Blackthorn is increased compared with the more expensive plant species.  The additional four species are all more expensive than the Hawthorn and Blackthorn (due to cost of seed and germination rates) so you can reduce the additional species and increase the Hawthorn and/or Blackthorn to save quite a bit, but for each species that you drop you will miss out on some flowering/berrying/wildlife value so it's a balancing act. We would recommend that you do not plant more than 80% Hawthorn or Blackthorn if you want to attract a wide variety of wildlife and 70% is the limit for a single species under the ELMS grant scheme.

What else is needed for planting mixed native hedging?

We strongly recommend planting with Easywrap guards (unless you are absolutely positive that you do not have rabbits or voles in the area) which will need a cane to pin them in place, and we find that planting with Rootgrow (a friendly fungi which stimulates root development) increases the success rate and establishment of bare root plants.

Claiming a Countryside Stewardship Grant for new hedgerows or gapping up

The grant rules specify that you must use 1+1 transplants (those are 2 years' old rather than 1 year old whips) and they must be a minimum of 45-60cm in height.  As far as we are aware, we are the only wholesale grower who grades to this specification - everyone else will either tell you to "risk it" and buy 40/60cm height (but then you risk your grant audit going badly!) or you have to trade up to 60/90cm height which are taller than you need and therefore more expensive.

Why buy from R J Trees and Hedging Ltd

One of the objectives of the new ELMS farm grant schemes is to increase the quality and quantity of British farm hedgerows and RJ Trees and Hedging is a specialist trade nursery you can rely on to supply you with quality British grown wholesale-priced bare root seedlings (whips) and transplants.  Ray Jenkins has been growing and selling mixed native farm hedging for over 35 years and is considered an “industry veteran” by Horticulture Week.  We are familiar with the Countryside Stewardship scheme and our 1+1 packs comply with the scheme requirements.

This section gives definitions on the specifications of plants that we sell.  We are specialists in field grown (or bare root) plants which are grown in two ways.  The majority are grown from seed, some are ready within one growing season (seedlings or 1+0's) and some species require two growing seasons (1u1's).  In addition to growing from seed we also grow from small plants or cuttings (transplants) which are much more widely spaced (taking more land, more irrigation water, fertilisers and labour).  There are only a handful of bare root wholesale nurseries in the UK and of those even fewer grow transplants but Ray Jenkins has many years' experience of transplanting so we grow these in large volumes.  Ray has written this blog about the benefits of bare root plants and how they are grown and another blog which gives further detail on bare root specifications.

The detailed specifications are shown below.  If you are in doubt about what specification to use please email us on enquiries@rjtreesandhedging.co.uk with a description of the project (and photos if appropriate) and we will advise you.

1+0 - field grown in one season from seed, known as a seedling (sometimes called a whip), generally a slender single stem plant.   These are the cheapest specification and are particularly suitable for planting where weed competition will be less intense, soil is shallow or on exposed windy sites.  Gives a high root to shoot ratio and minimal plant "check".

2+0 - a 2 year seedling, field grown from seed in the same seed bed in two growing seasons where the species cannot be grown to a saleable plant from seed in one season

1U1 - 2 year old plant called an undercut, field grown for two seasons in the same seed bed and undercut by machine (a sharp blade cutting the roots under the soil level) after the first year to develop the root structure. We do this with several species which take 2 years to develop (eg oak, beech, hornbeam)

1+1 - 2 year old plant (transplant) grown from seed in the first year and then transplanted into a different area of the field and spaced out for the second growing season - a robust plant with a larger and more robust root system than seedling or undercut plant which will enable it to better withstand drought and weed competition. Often the best choice and the staple norm for farm hedging and this specification is a requirement of the Countryside Stewardship Grant

1+2- a 3 year old plant, two years field growing in the seedbed and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further two growing seasons giving a tall, stocky, bushy plant

2+1- a 3 year old plant, two years field growing in the seedbed and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further growing season, giving a strong bushy plant

3+1 - as above but field grown for a further growing season for more height and a very bushy plant

1+3- 4 year old, one year field growing in the seed beds and then transplanted (and spaced out) for three years, giving a very strong, bushy plant

2+2- 4 year old, two years field growing in the seed beds and then transplanted (and spaced out) for a further two years - a very mature plant suited to certain species like beech and hornbeam where we can offer almost instant hedging

and some that are a bit different.....

P9 - a plant grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel in a 9cm pot (for holly which germinates poorly in the field)

Cell grown - a plant grown in small deep cells (like a small yogurt pot) and then lifted out of those for transportation. Commonly used in forestry and large hedging projects.  Very high quality plants with excellent success rate.  See our blog on the benefits of cell grown plants.

C+1 or C+2 - a 3 or 4 year old plant initally started as hardwood cuttings grown on for a year as cell grown plants and then lined out in fields to grow on for a further 1 or 2 years (a technique used for Cherry Laurel)

0/1 - a hardwood cutting, then field grown for one season (for example for white willow, black poplar and osier)

We only sell these packs in quantities of 100 so please calculate the number of plants required and then round up or down to the nearest 100.  If you are short, you can buy packs of 25 x hawthorn or blackthorn.