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Our UK Native Hedging & Shrubs
Find more information on the hedge species we stock below. Visit the Store for current available stock.
Crataegus Monogyna Common Hawthorn
Often the first to leaf and with an explosion of blossom in May, it teems with wildlife from bugs to birds.
Size - Mature trees can reach a height of 15m and are characterised by their dense, thorny habit.
Where to find it -commonly found growing in hedgerows, woodland and scrub. It will grow in most soils, but flowers and fruits best in full sun.
Value to wildlife - Common hawthorn can support more than 300 insects and the dense, thorny foliage makes fantastic nesting shelter for many species of bird.
Uses & Mythology - It is used in wood turning, engraving to make veneers, cabinets, as well as boxes, tool handles and boat parts. It also makes good firewood and charcoal, The young leaves, flower buds and young flowers are all edible (with care). Hawthorn is a pagan symbol of fertility and has ancient associations with May Day.
Prunus Spinosa Blackthorn
Early to blossom, blackthorn trees have clouds of snow-white flowers in early spring
Size - mature trees can grow to a height of around 6–7m and live for up to 100 years. Where to find it -commonly found growing in hedgerows, woodland and scrub.
Value to wildlife - Early flowering, Blackthorn provides a valuable source of nectar and pollen for bees in spring. Birds nest among the dense, thorny thickets, eat caterpillars and other insects from the leaves, and feast on the sloes in autumn.
Uses & Mythology - the sloes are still used to make wine, preserves and sloe gin.
Rosa Canina Dog rose
Climbing wild rose.
Size - It is a deciduous shrub normally ranging in height from 1–5 metres with pale pink flowers.
Where to find it -commonly found growing in hedgerows, woodland and scrub.
Value to wildlife - Dog rose flowers are an important nectar source for insects and its fruits are a food source for birds.
Malus Sylvestris Crab Apple
Crab apple trees are associated with love and marriage.
Size - Mature trees grow to around 10m in height and live for 100 yrs.
Where to find it -commonly found growing in hedgerows, woodland and scrub.
Value to wildlife - The leaves are food for the caterpillars of many moths, the flowers provide an important source of early pollen and nectar for insects, particularly bees, and the fruit is eaten by birds, including blackbirds, thrushes and crows. Mammals, such as mice, voles, foxes and badgers, also eat Crab Apple fruit.
Fagus sylvatica Common Beech
Monumental, majestic, home to rare wildlife. Beech is known as the queen of British trees.
Size - Mature trees grow to a height of more than 40m developing a huge domed crown and can live up to 400 years.
Where to find it - considered truly native to south-east England and south-east Wales only. It grows in woods or as single trees, usually on drier, free-draining soils, such as chalk, limestone and light loams.
Value to wildlife - Beech woodland provides an important habitat for many insects, rare plants and mammals.
Uses & Mythology - Beech is associated with femininity and is often considered the queen of British trees, where Oak is the king. It has many uses including furniture & sports equipment.
Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea Copper Beech
Copper beech, also known as purple beech, is a cultivated form of common beech.
Size - Mature trees grow to a height of more than 40m developing a huge domed crown and can live up to 400 years.
Where to find it - Copper beech doesn’t occur naturally, but is planted in urban and rural areas across the UK as an ornamental tree for its distinctive purple leaves.
Value to wildlife - Beech woodland provides an important habitat for many insects, rare plants and mammals.
Uses & Mythology - Copper Beech is a very popular hedging plant and has many uses inc furniture & sports equipment
Corylus avellana Hazel
Hazel is one of the most useful native trees and its nuts are loved by people, squirrels and dormice.
Size - trees can reach a height of 12m and live for up to 80 years (if coppiced, hazel can live for 100's of years).
Where to find it - alongside lowland Oak, Ash or Birch woodland, and in scrub and hedgerows.
Value to wildlife -Hazelnuts are eaten by woodpeckers, nuthatches, tits, wood pigeons, jays and small mammals. Hazel flowers provide early pollen as a food for bees.
Uses & Mythology - Hazel has a reputation as a magical tree and was used for water divining. It can be twisted or knotted, and historically had many uses inc thatching, net stakes and furniture. The nuts are are highly valued commercially.
