Choosing The Best Hedging Plants for a Native UK Hedgerow
Creating a native UK hedgerow with hedging plants is an excellent choice for a UK garden. While there are plenty of different hedgerows you can create, choosing native species and introducing as much biodiversity as possible is the best choice for wildlife. It can also help you meet your own needs.
When choosing hedging plants for a native UK hedgerow, you will need to think not only about which plants will be suited to the specific growing conditions, but also about what you want the hedgerow to do.
For example, you should think about how a hedgerow plant will impact other plants growing close by. You should also think about what a hedgerow can provide in terms of both tangible and intangible yields.
Some hedging plants for a native UK hedgerow might provide edible yields, or physical yields that are useful to us in other ways. Many will provide for native wildlife and help to attract beneficial wildlife to your garden.
You can also think about what a hedge can provide in terms of your enjoyment of your outside space. Hedgerows can often be carefully created to provide windbreaks, privacy, screening of unsightly views, or mitigation of air or noise pollution, for example.
Let’s take a look at some of the best native hedging plants to help you make the best hedging choices for where you live:
Alder for a Nitrogen-Fixing Native UK Hedgerow
Alder is a deciduous plant ideally adapted to wet or even waterlogged and poor-quality soils. It is a magnet for wildlife and can be perfect for a wildlife-friendly space. Swift growing, dense and leafy, alder is great for waterside positions and also makes a very effective windbreak. Another huge benefit of alder is that it is a nitrogen-fixing plant, so it can aid the fertility of growing systems.
Elder for an Edible Native UK Hedgerow Scheme
Another fast-growing deciduous species suited to mixed native hedgerows is the elder. These are plants that prefer moist to average soil, in sun or partial shade. Elder is a good choice if you want a productive hedge, since both the flowers and the berries have edible uses. Elder is also good for exposed locations and can come with even extreme coastal conditions.
Hazel for Wildlife and Edible Nuts in a Native UK Hedgerow
Hazel works well with other native species in a mixed hedgerow but can also be used as a single species hedge. It is also deciduous and fast-growing, and easily maintained at 1-5m in height. Hazel also works well for exposed locations and is also excellent for a huge range of native wildlife. With careful pruning, you might also be able to obtain edible nuts, which ripen in September/ October.
Beech for a Classic Native UK Hedgerow
Beech hedging is of course extremely popular in the UK. Common beech, Fagus sylvatica is truly native only to the south east of England and south eastern Wales. But it grows well elsewhere, typically thriving in full sun, in drier and free-draining soils. The brown leaves are often kept through the winter months, though leaves will be lost in winter in more exposed locations.
Hornbeam – an Alternative to Beech in a Native UK Hedgerow
Hornbeam is wonderful as a deciduous hedgerow plant for a range of purposes and in a range of locations. It has an average rate of growth and creates dense screening and effective windbreak and barrier and can be used alone or alongside other native plants in a mixed hedgerow scheme. It is a very tolerant plant that can cope with wind, shade and clay or wet soils. It is a good alternative to beech where soils are wetter and heavier.
Spindle for a Native UK Hedgerow with Wonderful Autumn Interest
Our native Euonymus is called spindle because its wood was once used to make spindles. This can also be a very useful hedgerow plant. It is highly prized for the autumn colour of its fruits and leaves. As well as working in most average conditions, this hedging plant also works for coastal positions and slightly wet locations. It is an average to fast growing deciduous shrub/ small tree.
Dogwood for Autumn and Winter Interest in a Native UK Hedgerow
Native dogwood, Cornus sanguinea, is also prized for its colour during the coldest months. Its brightly coloured fiery stems are an attractive feature in an autumn and winter garden. With an average rate of growth, these shrubs can grow up to 3m in height. They are suited to inland, relatively moist locations, with full sun or semi shade and can cope with a range of soil types, including chalk and clay soils.
Holly for Evergreen Appeal in a Native UK Hedgerow
English holly, Ilex aquifolium is a versatile hedge plant, and one of few native evergreens that you might use for year-round privacy and security in a garden hedgerow. They have a dense and prickly habit, and also have the added benefit of providing material for natural Christmas decoration. They grow only slowly, but can easily be maintained at heights of 1-4m once established – working in a range of different environments and settings and broadly very unfussy plants.
Blackthorn for Edible Fruits in a Native UK Hedgerow
Another prickly hedge, though a deciduous one, blackthorn is another good hedge to deter intruders, and it is also great for wildlife, for visual appeal, and for edible yields. This fruiting hedgerow plant is perfect for an edible hedgerow, providing sloes in the autumn months. This hedgerow plant grows quickly and has great density. It is best grown in a sunny position for best results.
Hawthorn for Hardy Year-Round Appeal in a Native UK Hedgerow
Another wonderful native plant for mixed hedgerows, this is another wonderful choice – one of the very best for our native wildlife. It is prized for its beautiful white flowers in the spring, for its young leaves, which provide an edible yield, and also for its red ‘haws’ in autumn. Hawthorn grows quickly, and is suited to a wide range of growing conditions, including exposed, windy and coastal locations in which it is particularly hardy.
Dog Rose for a Native UK Hedgerow With Attractive Summer Flowers
The dog rose, Rosa canina, also known as the wild rose or wild briar, is also good for native wildlife, and also has attractive flowers, which are followed by red rose hips in autumn. A vigorous and prickly deciduous plant, it can be good for security and grows quickly. The rose hips provide an edible yield for us as well as wildlife. This hedging plant thrives in any moist but well-drained soil, even in exposed locations, though is happiest in full sun.
Wild Privet for a Neat Native UK Hedgerow
Wild privet, Ligustrum vulgare, is a semi-evergreen hedging plant. It will lose some leaves in frosty conditions but can remain many leaves in a sheltered and relatively warm location. This hedging plant for a UK native hedgerow has an average growth rate, though can grow up to 4m in height. Creamy white flowers appear on this plant in spring. This hedging plant can cope with many conditions, except very wet locations.
Guelder Rose for Wildlife and Visual Appeal in a Native UK Hedgerow
The guelder rose, Viburnum opulus, has appeal through much of the year. It has white flowers in summer and striking foliage and red berries in the autumn months. This shrub has an average rate of growth and can grow up to 5m tall. Wonderful for wildlife, it can be grown in most soil types except in very acidic soils, but it will do best in sun or light shade, in moist, fertile soil.
Box for Neatly Clipped and Tidy Native UK Hedgerow
The evergreen Buxus sempervirens, native to the south of the UK, is commonly prized for neatly clipped hedgerows. Though sadly susceptible to box blight, box caterpillars and other issues, it is a popular choice for hedging in the UK. It grows slowly, but is ideal for low hedges as well as borders and topiary in a more orderly and neat scheme. It grows densely and can cope with a range of soil and environmental conditions.
Yew for an Evergreen, Coniferous Native UK Hedgerow
Extremely popular for conifer hedges and topiary, and one of few native evergreen hedging plants, yew is sometimes referred to as the ‘king of hedges’. It is prized for its low maintenance characteristics, and for providing privacy and year-round screening. Its small red fruits, which appear in autumn, are loved by birds, but they are highly toxic, it is important to note, to people, pets and livestock. Easy to grow, this plant is suited to many soil types and growing conditions. It grows well even in shady locations but it cannot tolerate waterlogging.
When choosing hedging plants for a native UK hedgerow, the species listed above can be a good place to start. Native species are, of course, not the only options. But when you are trying to meet your own needs while creating a wildlife-friendly space, native planting is the best option and even where you also use non-native species, you should aim to use natives for a large proportion of your garden planting.
References:
https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/native-hedge-plants.html
