Planting Bare-Root Hedging in the Dormant Season

Why the Dormant Season Suits Bare-Root Plants

Bare-root hedging is one of the quiet joys of the gardening year. Between leaf fall and bud burst, a native whip can be lifted from nursery soil and moved with nothing but its roots and a little damp packing around them. No pot, no compost, no plastic to recycle — and because the plant is asleep, it barely notices the journey. A pot-grown shrub is more expensive every time, and it has often spent months in a container with its roots coiled round the sides.

The window runs from late autumn through to early spring — roughly November to mid-March — though the best planting is usually done before Christmas or in the first mild weeks of March. In colder northern gardens, plant earlier; in the mild south-west, you can stretch further. What matters is the state of the ground, not the date. Avoid planting when the soil is frozen solid, standing under water, or when a hard frost is forecast for the days that follow. A light frost overnight is fine. A spade that rings off the surface is not.

Choosing Whips and Keeping Roots Moist

Bare-root whips are usually sold as one or two-year-old transplants, most commonly 40–60cm or 60–90cm tall. For a wildlife-friendly hedge, aim for a mix rather than a single species: hawthorn and blackthorn for early blossom and autumn sloes, hazel for catkins and future cutting material, field maple for colour, plus dog rose, guelder rose, spindle and crab apple for berries. Add holly if you want winter cover, and wild privet for nesting birds.

Order early. Nurseries lift to order, and the more unusual species disappear well before the planting season ends.

The single most important rule of bare-root planting is this: roots must never dry out. On arrival, unwrap the bundle and check the roots. If they look dry, stand the roots in water for a few hours — no longer, or they will suffocate. If you cannot plant within a couple of days, heel them in: dig a shallow trench in a spare corner, lay the bundles at an angle, cover the roots with soil, firm and water. They will sit happily like that for weeks. Store in a cool, frost-free shed rather than a warm greenhouse.

Preparing the Ground and Spacing Your Plants

Clear perennial weeds — couch, nettle, bramble — before planting, ideally a season ahead, as they will out-compete young whips. Dig a strip 60cm wide for a single row, or a full metre for a double row, and fork over the base to break up any pan.

Do not over-feed. A little well-rotted compost is welcome, but heavy enrichment makes soft, sappy growth that flops and suffers in wind. A hedge wants a firm, honest soil.

Spacing depends on the effect you want:

• Single row, single species: 30–45cm apart, giving roughly three whips per metre.
• Double staggered row, mixed species: 30cm within each row, 40cm between rows, allowing about five or six whips per metre.
• Wide mixed hedge for wildlife: plant in two rows 45cm apart, or three for a really thick, farm-style boundary.

Set out a taut line to keep the row straight, then mark planting positions with canes or a sprinkling of sand.

Planting, Firming and Cutting Back

For each whip, either notch a slit with a spade and slide the roots in, or — better on heavy or stony ground — take out a small hole and spread the roots out properly. Look for the faint soil mark on the stem from the nursery bed. The collar should end up at, or just below, the final soil surface. Planting too deep is a common mistake and smothers the stem.

Backfill in layers, tucking soil around the roots with your fingers as you go, then firm with the heel of your boot. Work along the row rather than dancing on the spot. When you have finished, give each plant a gentle tug on a leaf — there should be a slight resistance, not a loose wobble.

Then do the step most people skip: cut the whip back hard. One-year whips should go down to about 15cm above ground; two-year transplants to roughly 30cm. It feels brutal, but it forces the plant to branch from the base instead of growing one lonely leg, and you will have a dense, bushy hedge two years sooner.

Watering, Mulching and the First Seasons

Water thoroughly after planting — around ten litres per plant, or a good soaking can per metre of row. Even in wet weather, this settles the soil around the roots and closes the air pockets that dry them out. Then mulch the row with 5–7cm of well-rotted manure or bark, keeping it clear of the stems. Rabbit guards and canes are worth the small outlay if you have rabbits, deer or lively dogs about.

For the first two summers, water in dry spells. After that, a well-planted native hedge should look after itself. Trim lightly in the second year, aiming for a slightly wider base than top — a hedge that is broad at the bottom and tapered at the top will not go bare and leggy at ground level.

Looking Ahead to Hedgerow Crafts

Plant with an eye on the decades to come. A mixed native hedge becomes a small workshop as well as a boundary. Hazel stools, cut on rotation, give you straight rods for hurdles, bean poles and pea sticks. Birch twigs make besoms; ash and field maple will furnish tool handles and walking sticks.

When the hedge is five years old or so, you might learn to lay it. Winter hedge laying means pleaching the stems partway through and bending them over at an angle, then holding them with hazel stakes and binders woven along the top. It makes a living, stock-proof fence that lasts for a generation, and it is one of the most satisfying crafts in the British countryside. The sloes, rosehips and crab apples, meanwhile, will keep you busy in the kitchen every autumn.