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Bare root hedge - to prune or not to prune?

MaisieMMaisieM Posts: 100
in Plants
Hello - planting a mixed hedge with bare root plants & unsure whether to prune & if so, how much to take off? Getting conflicting advice - planting site is pretty exposed, so want to give them the best chances of survival. Plants are hawthorn, blackthorn, sea buckthorn, rosa rugosa & rosa rugosa alba. Thank you :smiley:

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    We planted a bare root hawthorn hedge about 20 years ago - well prepared soil in a very exposed site.  I followed advice to prune each whip back to 9 to 12 inches and it thrived and became a brilliant refuge for wildlife as well as a windbreak for the beds on its leeward side.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • MaisieMMaisieM Posts: 100
    Thank you Obelixx :smile:
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511
    edited December 2021
    Similar experience to @Obelixx with our mixed hedge but if the individual plants seemed bushy I did not prune them.  You haven't said how big the plants are but if small I would not prune them except to take the tips off to encourage bushiness. The most important thing in the first two years is to keep the weeds down.  I used a mulch of grass mowings for this and also keep watered in the spring and summer.
    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Ours were just whips.  They grew 6' in their first season.  Then we cut them down to 3' in the next winter and they bushed out to make a good, thick hedge we kept cut to 6' every year.   It just needed one good trim top and sides every year and was always buzzing with life - sparrows, tits, insects and assorted field mice.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • MaisieMMaisieM Posts: 100
    Thanks Redwing - they're not bushy at all. The hawthorns are tall whips but the other plants are much shorter. I think I'll trim the tips off the rest & lop a bit more off the hawthorns :smile:
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I agree with the advice you’ve been given above. Sounds a lovely mixture for a hedge. I’d love to see photos as it develops. 😊 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • MaisieMMaisieM Posts: 100
    Thanks Dove - don't worry, if I manage to keep it alive, I'll be boring everyone with photos! It was a 'coastal mix' bought online :)
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