Why a mixed hedge earns its keep

A single-species hedge does one job. A mixed one does several at once, and it does them better. On a smallholding, a hedge of six or eight natives will slow the wind, lift the soil temperature in the lee of it, feed the bees in spring, shelter nests in summer and carry hips, haws and sloes through the winter for the birds.

Wind is worth thinking about first. A solid barrier — a wall, a tight conifer line — pushes the wind up and over, then drops it back down in a destructive eddy a short distance away. A hedge with roughly half its depth open to the breeze filters the wind instead. That porous, semi-permeable structure is what makes a native mixed hedge such an effective windbreak, and the shelter it gives is felt for roughly ten to fifteen times its height downwind. For a hedge that eventually reaches two metres, that is a serious amount of protected ground for your brassicas and early potatoes.

Mixed planting also spreads your risk. If hawthorn sulks in a wet corner, the guelder rose and alder buckthorn beside it will shrug it off. Disease and drought rarely take a good mixed hedge out in one go.

Matching species to your ground

Choose for your soil first, then for what you want the hedge to do. Get this right and the hedge looks after itself.

• Hawthorn — the backbone of almost every British hedge. Tolerates heavy clay, exposed sites and hard clipping. Excellent nesting cover and winter haws.
• Blackthorn — brilliant on damp, heavy ground and the sloe crop is a bonus. Suckers freely, so give it room and don't grub it out casually.
• Hazel — prefers decent loam, does well in part shade. Nuts, catkins, and a species you can coppice later for bean poles.
• Field maple — the best of the lot on chalk and limestone. Lovely autumn colour and it clips cleanly.
• Holly — slow, but evergreen, shade-tolerant and a genuine winter haven for birds.
• Guelder rose and dog rose — for damper ground. Flowers, berries, and a slightly informal, thorny tangle that wildlife adores.
• Spindle, crab apple, wild cherry — the decorative layer. Spindle for autumn colour, crab apple for blossom and fruit that holds into December.

On wet, rushy ground, add alder buckthorn and willow. On thin, dry chalk, lean on field maple, hawthorn, wayfaring tree and privet. Aim for roughly half your plants being one strong structural species, then mix the rest generously.

Planting: prepare the strip, then plant bare root

Bare-root plants are cheap, establish fast and are lifted while dormant between November and March. Avoid planting into frozen or waterlogged ground; a mild spell in late November or February is ideal.

Clear a strip a metre wide along the line and kill off perennial weeds first — grass and couch will smother young whips faster than anything else. Fork over the centre, and if your soil is poor, work in a little well-rotted compost along the row rather than in individual holes.

For a dense, stock-proof hedge, plant a double row about 40cm apart, staggered, with plants 40–45cm apart within each row — roughly five plants per metre. For a garden or wildlife hedge you can be more generous: a single row at 45cm, or a double row at wider spacing, will still knit together in three or four years. Set the plants at the same depth they were growing in the nursery, firm them in properly with your boot, and water well.

Fit a spiral guard or small mesh sleeve around each whip if rabbits, deer or pheasants are about. Without protection, you will lose them.

Looking after young plants

For the first two summers, the hedge needs help with water and weeds, nothing more.

• Mulch the row with 5–8cm of bark or well-rotted manure, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Keep a 60cm strip either side weed-free until the hedge closes over.
• In dry spells, give each plant around ten litres a week. Deep, occasional soaking beats a daily sprinkle.
• Replace failures in the following winter rather than leaving gaps that encourage the neighbours to fill in with brambles.

Resist the urge to trim in the first two years. Let them put on height and root before you touch them.

Clipping gently, for birds and berries

A wildlife hedge is not a suburban box. Cut it lightly and rarely, and let it grow a little shaggy. Most native species flower and fruit on growth made the previous year, so an annual hard trim in the same place will strip out the blossom and the berries that feed your winter thrushes.

Aim to trim every second or third winter, in late February just before the nesting season begins in March. Cut only one face each time — one side this year, the other in two years' time — and leave the top for another turn. Never cut between March and August, when nests are active.

Shape matters too. Keep the hedge wider at the base and narrower at the top, a rough A-shape, so light reaches the bottom and the base stays leafy rather than going bare and gappy. Hand shears or a sharp hedge trimmer both do the job; make clean cuts rather than tearing at the stems.

If you want a really dense, long-lived hedge, consider laying it once it is established — cutting partway through the stems and bending them over. It is hard work, but a laid hedge will outlast a clipped one by decades and is the finest nesting habitat you can build on a smallholding.