Set off your flowers to perfection by planting a hedge this month. Filtering out the wind can turn a garden from windswept hillside to cosy flower haven; hedges also provide homes for wildlife and soften boundaries to a gentle green that’s the ideal backdrop for brightly-coloured perennials. Choose from deciduous hedges which drop their leaves in winter, such as elegant native beech or hornbeam; sturdy evergreens like yew for year-round shelter; or for a more natural look go for a mixed native hedge full of dog roses, hawthorn, hazel, field maples and blackthorn.
Plant a Hedge
Prepare your ground before you buy the hedging plants, digging in lots of organic matter as you go. Use a peg and string to mark the line of your hedge, then buy in the bare-root saplings at any time during winter. Plunge the roots in water for an hour to rehydrate them, then plant straight away burying the roots just below the soil’s surface.
How to Plant a Hedge
Plant at 45cm intervals in two staggered rows. Back-fill, water in and then trim back all the plants to about 20cm: that encourages lots of bushy growth. You’ll find all you need to plant your hedge, from soil improver and fertiliser to top-of- the-range hedgetrimmers, right here at our garden centre in Henley on Thames.