How to Look After your Hawthorn hedge this February

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It comes as no surprise that searches for the terms ‘garden maintenance’ and ‘hedge maintenance’ peaked in the Summer months of 2021; the warmer weather and longer days tended to bring out the green fingers in everyone. What may come as a surprise, however, is that, while search terms for ‘hawthorn hedge planting’ also peaked in Summer 2021, they hit noticeable heights at the beginning of 2021 too and again in January. As one of the most common types of deciduous hedging, these search results just go to show how popular hawthorn hedging is all year round.

At Hopes Grove Nurseries, we are committed to providing expert knowledge on the care of hedges, plants, trees and shrubs, so you can enjoy your outside space every month of the year. This is why we have produced a guide on how to look after your hawthorn hedging, so you don’t need to wait until the warmer months to make the most of your garden.

As low-maintenance plants, hawthorn hedges are ideal for gardeners of any skill level; whether you are new to the world of hawthorn hedge maintenance, or you’re an avid gardener, anyone can reap the rewards of planting hawthorn hedges!

We want to provide you with an overview of when to plant your hawthorn hedge, when and how to go about pruning it and will offer guidance depending on whether you have potted, instant or bare root hawthorn hedging.

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Planting Hawthorn Hedges in your Garden

So, how do you know whether you need bare root hawthorn hedging, potted hawthorn hedging or instant hawthorn hedging, and when is the best time to plant your hawthorn hedging once you’ve decided?

If you want a hawthorn hedge that’s ready to go then you’ll need to be looking for instant hedging or potted hedging. Instant hawthorn hedging plants are usually delivered to your doorstep in 1 metre, pre-clipped sections, and potted hawthorn hedging plants are delivered in the pots they’re grown in. As a result, you can plant your hawthorn hedging all year round!

Bare root hedging, on the other hand, is grown in a field and lifted when dormant. Once it’s been lifted and had the soil shaken off, bare root hawthorn hedging is usually delivered within a number of days and is ready for immediate planting. So, when is the best time to plant a hawthorn hedge? The dormant period of hawthorn hedging plants is between late Autumn and early Spring which means the best time to plant a hawthorn hedge is between November and March.

The biggest tip we can offer you when planting a hawthorn hedge is to ensure the roots are not exposed because insects or pests could eat them or it could cause the plant to die. If you want to find out more about planting your hawthorn hedge, take a look at our blog on how to plant a hedge.

Hawthorn Hedge Maintenance

Once you’ve planted your hawthorn hedging, you need to take good care of it to ensure it establishes and thrives in your garden. If taken care of properly, hawthorn hedging can bloom white flowers, produce berries and grow sharp thorns which are great for security purposes.

Bare root hawthorn hedging is low maintenance which means your hawthorn hedge maintenance can be kept to a minimum. This makes hawthorn hedging plants ideal for gardeners with busy schedules!

Here are our top hawthorn hedge maintenance tips to keep your hedges healthy all year round:

  • In its first Spring and Summer, make sure you water your hawthorn hedging once a week.
  • Once established, you won’t need to worry about hawthorn hedge maintenance too much but you may still need to water your hawthorn hedging during intense dry Summer periods.
  • To stop your hawthorn hedge from growing out of control, trim the edges in Autumn.
  • Hawthorn hedging doesn’t need feeding often, but applying a generic fertiliser in the Spring will help it during the growing season. Be sure to stop this once your hawthorn hedging is established.

Pruning your Hawthorn Hedge

As low maintenance hedges, you’ll be pleased to know that pruning your hawthorn hedge doesn’t need to happen as regularly as with other types of hedges!

Hawthorn hedges aren’t typically used as ‘formal hedging’ because they’re notoriously difficult to keep neat. As a result, they need to be pruned but they don’t require the level of pruning a formal hedge needs to keep it from becoming overgrown.

Also, if you’ve ever planted a hawthorn hedge in your garden before, you’ll know that they produce beautiful red berries once they’ve been established. Yes, they add brightness to your garden but they also provide food for wildlife so it’s important to ensure you’re pruning your hawthorn hedge at the appropriate time so as to get the balance right between making sure the wildlife has enough food and not letting your garden be overrun with mouldy berries!

When it comes to pruning your hawthorn hedge you should:

  • Prune your hawthorn hedge during Summer and Autumn, once it’s had a chance to flower
  • Cut dead, broken and diseased branches
  • Ensure there’s no wildlife, including nests, living in your hawthorn hedge before pruning

When it comes to pruning your hawthorn hedge you should not:

  • Prune your hawthorn hedge before it’s been established (usually after 2 years)
  • Worry too much about being precise – hawthorn hedges aren’t known for being neat
  • Hard prune your hawthorn hedge every single year. Instead, you should be hard pruning your hawthorn hedge in the second Spring after planting

You can read more about pruning your hawthorn hedge safely and effectively in our guide to hawthorn hedge pruning.

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