From November to March, while deciduous plants are asleep, you can buy them as bare-root stock: no pot, no compost, just roots and stems wrapped in a bag. They cost a fraction of pot-grown plants and, planted well, romp away in spring.
Why bare-root works
A dormant plant moves with very little check, putting out new roots before the leaves demand water. A native hedge of hawthorn, hazel and field maple bought bare-root costs perhaps a third of the container price, which matters over twenty metres.
Get them in quickly
The roots must never dry out. If you cannot plant the day they arrive, heel them in: lay them in a shallow trench and cover the roots with soil until you are ready.
- Soak the roots in a bucket for an hour before planting.
- Plant a hedge in a slit or trench, five plants per metre in a staggered double row.
- Set each plant to the soil mark on the stem, no deeper.
Firm, water, protect
Firm the soil with your heel so there are no air pockets, then water in even if the ground is wet. Where rabbits or deer roam, spiral guards or netting are not optional. A mulch of bark keeps weeds down and moisture in.
The hard cut that pays off
It feels brutal, but cutting a new hedge back by a third after planting makes it bush out from the base instead of growing into a row of leggy sticks. Do it, look away, and enjoy the thick hedge it gives you in three years.