Planting bare-root hedges on Wealden clay.

Planting & species · Updated 21 September 2026

Bare-root hedging is how most of the Weald's historic mixed field boundaries were established, and it's still the right way to do it on heavy ground. The plants arrive as dormant whips, 60-90cm tall typically, with exposed roots and no compost ball to contend with. They're lighter, cheaper per plant than container stock (roughly a third of the price for standard hawthorn whips), and because there's no root-bound pot to disrupt, they establish contact with the surrounding soil immediately. On Wealden clay, that last point matters more than it does on free-draining ground.

Why the clay changes the method

The Gault Clay and Weald Clay that underlie most of the farmland around Tenterden, through Rolvenden and across to Biddenden, are among the heavier soils in southeast England. In autumn and winter they hold water. In summer they crack and shrink. A plant that goes into a poorly prepared hole on this ground faces two distinct threats: waterlogging of the root zone in its first winter, which can kill off new roots before they explore outward; and the smear problem, where the spade-cut sides of the hole are compressed smooth by the clay, creating a near-impermeable wall that roots struggle to push through.

Neither of these is a reason not to plant on clay, they're reasons to adjust the preparation. Hawthorn and blackthorn both evolved as clay-tolerant species: they grow naturally along the field boundaries of the Weald and establish on heavy ground with minimal intervention if the hole preparation is right and the first season's watering is managed. Field maple is similarly adapted. These three, planted as a staggered mixed row, make up the bulk of the Weald's historic hedgerow pattern.

Before you start: three decisions

Single row or double? For a garden boundary or roadside screen, a single staggered row at 5 plants per metre is standard and establishes faster. For a genuine field boundary or orchard perimeter, a double staggered row at 3-4 plants per metre per row gives a thicker base and better stock-proof establishment over a 5-7 year period.

Species mix or single species? A mixed native row (hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple, with occasional dog rose or crab apple for variety) is the right answer for a field or orchard boundary: it matches the ecology of an old Weald hedgerow and is more resistant to disease and pest damage than a monoculture. For a formal garden screen on the sandier ridge ground through Tenterden's higher streets, hornbeam is the native alternative to beech and handles heavier soil better than most formal hedge species.

Rabbit guards? On a garden boundary, usually not needed. On any field or orchard boundary in the Weald villages, almost certainly yes: rabbit pressure on newly planted whips in the first two winters is the single most common reason a new native hedge fails.

Step 1: Mark the line and clear the strip

Use garden canes and twine to mark the centre line of the hedge. Clear a 1-metre-wide strip along this line of existing grass, weeds and any couch grass or creeping buttercup. On clay, competition for moisture in the first summer is a genuine establishment threat, and the clearance strip also defines the mulch zone you'll lay later. I use a spade to cut a clean turf edge on each side rather than spraying, which avoids chemical residue on the root zone.

Step 2: Open the trench

For a single row, dig a trench 30cm wide and 30cm deep along the marked line. Heap the excavated clay to one side: you'll use it as the backfill, mixed with organic matter. For double-row planting, dig two parallel trenches 45cm apart, measured centre to centre.

The critical clay-specific step here: once the trench is open, roughen the cut sides and base with a fork or mattock. This breaks the smear layer that the spade creates on clay and allows roots to extend outward without meeting a compacted wall. On the heaviest ground (the low-lying areas around Smallhythe and the Wittersham Levels in particular), I also fork the base an additional 15-20cm to break any compacted pan below the trench depth.

Step 3: Puddle the roots

Before any plant goes into the ground, soak the root bundle in a bucket of water for 30-60 minutes. On bare-root stock that's been in transit or cold storage, the roots are dry and will take up moisture fast. This step isn't optional on clay: a dry root ball in contact with wet clay establishes more slowly than a pre-soaked one.

Step 4: Backfill mix and planting depth

Mix the excavated clay roughly 2:1 with well-rotted garden compost or leafmould. Do not use bought peat-based compost in large quantities: it improves the immediate planting environment but creates a marked contrast in texture with the surrounding clay, which can cause roots to stay within the enriched zone rather than extending outward. Well-rotted homemade compost or municipal green-waste compost at the 2:1 ratio improves drainage and workability without creating a barrier effect.

Set each plant so the original soil mark on the stem, the faint dark line where the nursery soil level was, sits at finished ground level or very slightly above it. "Slightly proud" is the right call on ground that holds water in winter: planting even 2-3cm high reduces the risk of the root collar sitting in a pool. Spread the roots outward in the trench rather than balling them together, and begin backfilling with the clay-compost mix.

Step 5: Firm without waterlogging

On clay, firming by treading is more important than on free-draining soil because air pockets in a dense substrate don't drain away between footings: they trap moisture and rot young roots. Work around each plant with the heel, pressing firmly but not stamping, to eliminate air pockets as you backfill in two or three stages rather than one go. The finished surface should be level or very slightly mounded; a depression around the stem is the wrong result on this ground.

Step 6: Stake and guard

On an exposed field site or where the ground is soft, a single 60cm cane per plant with a loose tie is enough to prevent wind-rocking in the first winter. Wind-rocking on freshly planted bare-root stock creates a widening gap at the root collar that fills with water: on clay it doesn't drain, and the resulting collar rot kills the plant before spring. On a sheltered garden boundary in good ground, canes are often not needed.

Fit rabbit guards immediately after planting if there's any risk of rabbit pressure. The standard 60cm spiral guard is adequate for hawthorn and field maple whips. Blackthorn is hardier and recovers from light rabbit grazing, but a severely browsed first-season whip will lose a full year's establishment.

Step 7: Mulch immediately

Apply a 10-15cm layer of organic mulch (wood chip, composted bark, or leafmould) along the cleared strip, keeping the mulch a few centimetres clear of each stem. On clay the mulch does two things: it suppresses the grass and weed competition that, in the first summer, is the main competition for moisture; and it moderates the clay's tendency to crack and shrink around the root zone in a dry July or August. Don't use black plastic sheeting as a mulch on this ground: it traps the clay's natural moisture-holding capacity in a way that leads to waterlogging, and it also tends to blow in winter before the hedge establishes enough to anchor it.

First-year aftercare

The single most common reason bare-root hedging fails on clay is not the planting, it's the first summer. If June, July and August are dry, newly planted whips without an established root system will desiccate in heavy clay faster than they would on lighter soil because clay draws moisture away from the immediate root zone once the surface cracks. Water each plant at the base, not overhead, every 10 days in a dry spell during the first summer, approximately 5 litres per plant per watering. Top up the mulch if it thins below 7-8cm depth.

In late winter of the first year (February or March), cut each whip back by roughly a third. This seems counterintuitive but it's the standard RHS guidance on bare-root hedging and it works: the cutback stimulates lateral branching from the base, which is what gives a hedge its density at the bottom. A hedge that isn't cut back after the first winter grows tall but remains thin and gappy at the base, and on a field boundary that defeats much of the purpose.

Pricing and what I supply

For a standard 10-metre single-row native hedge (hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple mix, 5 plants per metre), the supply-and-plant price is quoted per job after seeing photos and the postcode, and depends on the ground condition and access. A full quote includes: plants at 60-90cm whip size, rabbit guards where needed, the trench preparation, planting, firming and the initial mulch layer. On harder-access field sites where everything has to be barrowed from the lane, the quote allows for the extra distance.

I don't quote bare-root work for supply-only delivery without my own planting, because the clay preparation step is too specific and the failure rate on self-planted jobs on this ground is, in my experience, about 30% higher than on free-draining soil.

Sources: RHS "How to plant bare root hedges" (Royal Horticultural Society, youtube.com/watch?v=qDJc9rqCAY4, January 2021); RHS bare-root wildlife hedge guidance (rhs.org.uk/garden-inspiration/wildlife/plant-a-bare-root-mixed-wildlife-hedge); Hedgerow Regulations 1997 (SI 1997/1160); Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 s.1; British Geological Survey Wealden Clay (BGS DiGMapGB).