Why a native hedge earns its place

A mixed native hedge is the hardest-working feature you can put in a British garden. It shelters the plot from wind, screens an ugly view, and quietly feeds and houses a whole cast of creatures that would otherwise pass you by. Unlike a fence or a conifer run, a hedge filters wind rather than blocking it, so you get calmer air without the gusty turbulence that solid barriers create. And unlike an introduced shrub, our native species have evolved alongside our insects, birds and mammals for thousands of years.

Hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel sit at the heart of any good planting scheme. Get those three right and the hedge will look after itself for decades, with plenty of scope for adding extras once you have the framework in place.

The backbone three: hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel

These are the species our hedgerows have been built from for centuries, and they earn their keep in different ways.

• Hawthorn (Crithagus monogyna) – the classic. Dense, thorny and almost indestructible, it gives birds the tight, protected nesting cover they need, often with three or four nests in a single mature bush. In autumn the haws are stripped by blackbirds, song thrushes and, on cold winters, flocks of redwing and fieldfare.
• Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) – one of the first things to flower in spring, its frothy white blossom arriving before the leaves, which is valuable for early bees. The sloes that follow are taken by thrushes and waxwings, and the suckering, spreading habit makes blackthorn superb for filling the base of a hedge.
• Hazel (Corylus avellana) – a steady, leafy provider. Catkins in late winter, soft foliage for moth caterpillars in summer, and nuts in autumn that will be taken by nuthatches, jays, wood mice and, if you are very fortunate, dormice.

If you plant only three species, plant these. Aim for roughly half hawthorn, a quarter blackthorn and a quarter hazel as a starting balance.

Making room for a few extras

Once the backbone is settled, add two or three companions to widen the flowering season and the larder. Go for four to six species in total on a shorter run, more on a long one.

• Field maple – a small native tree that clips well and turns buttery yellow in autumn.
• Dog rose and guelder rose – hips and berries that hold into winter, plus nectar for insects.
• Crab apple – blossom for pollinators, fruit for thrushes and wintering fieldfares.
• Elder – fast-growing, with elderflowers for hoverflies and berries for warblers and blackcaps.
• Spindle – unusual, pretty, and its pink-and-orange autumn colour is worth the space alone.

Planting it properly

Bare-root whips, planted between November and March while the plants are dormant, are cheap, establish quickly and far outperform pot-grown stock. Order from a British native nursery and choose stock of local provenance where you can.

Set the plants out in a double staggered row, spacing them 30–40cm apart within the row, with the rows about 40cm apart. That works out at roughly five or six plants per metre of hedge. Prepare a strip at least 60cm wide, clear of grass and perennial weeds, and fork the soil over to a spade's depth.

• Plant to the same depth the plants were growing before – look for the soil mark on the stems.
• Firm the soil well around the roots, then water generously.
• Mulch with a 7cm layer of well-rotted manure or bark, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Fit spiral guards and canes if rabbits or deer are about, and check them each winter as the hedge grows.
• Cut the whips back by about half straight after planting. It feels brutal, but it forces bushy growth from the base instead of a spindly line of bare stems.

The first few years

Weed the strip by hand or with a hoe through the first two summers; grass competition is the main reason young hedges fail. Water deeply in dry spells during the first two growing seasons, and top up the mulch each spring. After that, the hedge should fend for itself.

For the first two or three winters, trim the sides lightly and take the top down by a third to encourage density. Keep the hedge wider at the base than the top – a slight batter, shaped like the letter A – so daylight still reaches the lower stems. That is what creates the thick, grassy, protected bottom that wrens, dunnocks and robins nest in.

Managing for berries, nesting and insects

The single biggest mistake is tidying a hedge to within an inch of its life every August. That strips off the berries just as birds need them and chops through late nests.

Instead, cut in late winter, between the end of February and early March, before the nesting season begins. Better still, trim only one side and the top each year, alternating sides so one half is always carrying flower and fruit. If you can leave a section completely uncut for two or three years, so much the better – hawthorn and blackthorn both fruit best on wood that is two years old or more.

Leave the clipping in a loose pile in a quiet corner. It costs nothing and hedgehogs, slow worms and beetles will all make use of it. If your hedge is more than a few years old and getting leggy, consider hedge laying: cutting part-way through the stems near ground level and bending them over to regrow. Done between late autumn and early March, it thickens the base dramatically and will buy you another twenty years of dense, wildlife-rich growth. For most gardens a light, patient hand with the secateurs and a bit of restraint is all it takes to keep a native hedge doing its job for you and for everything that lives in it.