The technique of planting hedging will differ slightly depending on the root type and the species, but often the process is the same and not too difficult. We have created these step by step instructions below to help you with the process, but as always if you have any further questions feel free to email or ring us for our help.
- Mark out the area where you want to plant your hedge, you can work this out by using the number of hedging plants you have and dividing it by our recommended plants per meter.
- When you have the chosen length of your hedge, mark it out with a bit of string so you have a straight line.
- Then mark out the width of you hedge, this is usually just double the width of your root system.
- Once you happy with how the markings look, you can dig out your trench. When digging, it’s important to dig down about double the depth of the roots of the hedging.
- If you can, you should enrich your soil with good organic matter and nutrients (compost, manure or a fertilising mixture will work well). This isn’t mandatory but is highly recommend for healthy strong root growth.
- Pack your soil down so that when you add your plants, their stems will start right where the soil starts. Be sure to remove any air pockets during this process to avoid any front damage to the plants during winter.
- Now add your plants, remembering to use our planting density recommendation to ensure your roots have enough space to grow without disturbing the neighbouring plants.
- Add the soil back around the plants so they are buried nicely underground.
- Finally, you should water the plants, which will help them to root into the ground faster and push any remaining air pockets to the surface, removing the risk of frost.
After care is just as important as this planting process, you need to to ensure that you plants are well watered for the first year or two until the roots go deep enough to maintain enough water by themselves. You can also add more nutrients like bone meal through the first few years to ensure the hedging has a strong growth, but if your soil is already rich in nutrients, this won’t be needed.
With bare root plants it is important to ensure that when you are planting the hedge, the ground is not frozen and if there is a delay when you’re planting them, ensure they are kept warm and the roots are kept moist. When you plant bare root hedging it is a good idea to coat the roots in a rooting gel to help the plant roots grow faster at the start of the growing season. This gel or powder can be found on https://www.ebay.co.uk, https://www.amazon.co.uk or many garden centres as well. When planting root balls you don’t have to move the burlap or net packaging around the roots you can just plant them how they are as the burlap will dissolve over time and decay into nothing but more food for the plant.
As well as this, the planting density should always be correct because roots need enough space to absorb enough nutrients, vitamins and water, but don’t plant them too far away also as you will lose the appearance of a thick hedge. We have provided a recommended planting density for you to follow for each product to ensure you get the best growth possible.
