Hedges & Hedging Plants from Hedges Direct Hedges Direct is a specialist grower of a wide range of hedges and hedging plants available nationally by ordering online. We've selected the hedging plants on this website as our favourites, but we grow a wide range of other species and are confident we can supply any hedge or hedging plant, in any size, and any quantity! We take enormous pride in the superb quality of our hedges, grown by qualified and experienced nurserymen in our team.
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Potted v bare root v root balledFor people who've never bought a new hedge before, there's a miriad of new terminology to get to grips with. In this section we attempt to explain in simple terms the key differences betwen the 3 main ways that hedge plants are sold.
| Bare Root
Basically, what you are buying with bare roots is a good root. Only certain species are suitable for growth in this manner - the shock of being lifted from the fields, having the soil removed from the roots and transported without soil is too great for evergreens, but dormant deciduous plants are absolutely fine when treated this way - and they have the tremendous benefit of being very low cost. They are much cheaper for us to grow, because we plant them only once and can then leave them in the field for several years rather than re-potting each year. They are also cheaper to deliver because we do not have to pay for the weight of the soil. There is though a certain failure rate - generally about 10%, slightly more for Beech and Purple Beech.
We recommend our customers take advantage of the very low cost of bare root plants by planting a double staggered row which will give good density. You could also consider having a few spares in a corner of the garden - they'll grow at the same rate as the new hedge and if you have some gaps where some of the plants have failed, you can pop in one of your spares and it'll be same height and bushiness as the rest of the hedge. Abracadabra!
Bare root plants are only supplied from November to March (exact dates depend on the weather) when they are completely dormant. Planting early in the season (ie before Christmas) gives the roots the best chance to establish whilst there is still some warmth in the soil, ready to put on maximum spring growth.
Only deciduous plants are sold as bare roots with the exception of Beech, Hornbeam and Privet which are semi evergreen. Semi evergreens can defoliate when treated as bare root plants (particularly Privet) but recover very quickly.
We can select various mixtures of bare root hedging for various purposes (flowering, berrying, prickly) or customers can select their own mixtures. For advice, please call our helpline on 01772 603300.
Root Balled
Many evergreen plants are sold as root balled, particularly large plants. They are grown naturally in a field (often for many years) and when ready for delivery, they are scooped out of the ground by a machine, which cuts a ball around the root which is then wrapped in a biodegradable string bag.
Root balled evergreens are cheaper than pot grown evergreens (due to the lower cost involved in this growing method) - and particularly when customers are looking for tall, bushy plants, this is a very economical way to establish a new hedge.
Root balled plants are only available from November to March - the success rate (which is good but not as good as Pot Grown) is enhanced if they are re-planted into their permanent positions before Spring arrives. Customers who order root balled plants should ensure that they can plant out within a few days of delivery. We cannot stress enough the importance of keeping large evergreens well watered. Sometimes, root balls (particularly those over 1.5m) can defoliate or suffer from yellowing leaves when the first hot weather arrives in the first season after planting - this is just the plant being shocked by the heat and it merely needs plenty of water to help it to recover.
Pot Grown
We sell evergreens, semi evergreens and deciduous pot grown plants. Growing in pots requires much more input from us with watering, weeding, feeding and annual repotting. However, they have a very high success rate because the roots remain completely protected by the pots until customers re-plant them whereas inevitably there is some root damage to bare roots and root balled plants in the process of lifting them from the fields and delivery. Pot grown plants can be left in their pots for days or even weeks before being planted into the ground, providing they are kept watered.
We always indicate what size pot the plant is in and this is given to indicate to customers the maturity of the root structure from which comes the bushiness of a plant. So a Cherry Laurel at 100cm tall grown in a 4 litre pot will have bigger, more mature roots than the same height of plant grown in a 2 litre pot, and therefore the upper growth will be much bushier. It's a case of "you get what you pay for".
Some websites don't make it absolutely clear what you're getting. We're aware that some of our competitors sell "plugs" or plants in 9cm pots - nothing wrong with either but they're not comparable with 2 litre pots which is our minimum on all species except some of the compact varieties like Lavenders. Please make sure when you're comparing prices on websites that you take the pot size into account.
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