← All guides · Planting · Updated July 2026

Bare-root native hedge planting for a Wingham garden.

A native mixed hedge is the correct answer for a rural or semi-rural Wingham boundary. Hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and the rest have been the East Kent field-boundary standard for centuries. Planted well, a bare-root native hedge is cheap, fast, wildlife-rich, and legally the safest thing you can put in.

Timing and technique matter. Get either wrong and East Kent's dry-belt summer will kill it in year one.

The window

Bare-root hedge planting runs November to March. Plants are lifted from the nursery while dormant and delivered as leafless stems with roots wrapped in damp paper. The point is to get them in the ground before the roots dry out and before dormancy breaks.

In East Kent, aim for the early end of the window. Wingham gets around 725 to 750 millimetres of rain a year, most of it not in the growing season. A bare-root hedge planted in November has five months of settling rain before it has to make it through its first summer. One planted in March has one bad drought away from failing.

Species mix

The traditional East Kent Countryside Stewardship mix is 60 to 70% hawthorn with the rest made up of other native species. A working recipe for a 20-metre boundary:

• Hawthorn: 65 plants (about 65%)
• Blackthorn: 10 plants
• Hazel: 10 plants
• Field maple: 5 plants
• Dogwood: 4 plants
• Spindle: 3 plants
• Wayfaring tree: 3 plants

Plus a scatter of wild privet or dog rose if you want extra bulk and winter berry. Yew and holly are optional evergreen additions on plots big enough to plant them at 1 metre spacing.

Sizes

Bare-root whips (young single-stem plants, roughly 40-60cm or 60-90cm) are the standard. They establish faster than bigger transplants and cost about a quarter as much. Order from a Kent-local nursery if possible; the plants are already climate-matched.

Spacing

Double-row staggered is the traditional East Kent field-boundary planting: 5 plants per metre run, in two rows about 30cm apart, offset. For a garden hedge you can go single-row at 3 plants per metre, but the double row establishes into a dense stock-proof barrier faster.

Preparation

• Mark the line. Two garden strings pulled tight.
• Rotavate or hand-dig a strip 60cm wide along the line, to the depth of a spade.
• Fork in compost or well-rotted manure: a barrow-load per 3 metres is fine. On shallow chalk this matters more than on Thanet Sand; on sand it matters more than nothing.
• Water the strip if the soil is dry when you plant. Dry soil kills bare-root roots on contact.

Planting

Slit-plant with a spade for whips: push the spade in, rock forward, drop the roots in, close the slot and firm with a boot. Fast, works well on chalky ground where a full pit is more trouble than it is worth.

On Thanet Sand or very light soil, use a proper pit for each plant: the soil holds moisture less well and a pit gives you a chance to backfill with something better.

Mulch

Non-negotiable in East Kent. A 7-10cm mulch of bark, wood-chip or well-composted garden waste over the planted strip, kept back a few centimetres from the stems. Cuts water loss dramatically. Suppresses weeds. Do this the day you plant.

Watering plan

This is where Wingham hedges live or die. On chalk, or on Thanet Sand, in a low-rainfall region, first-summer water is the difference.

• Winter after planting: rainfall usually enough.
• March: check weekly. Water if dry for more than 10 days.
• April to July: 10 litres per metre of hedge per week if there has been no meaningful rain. That is one full watering can per metre.
• August: same rate unless it has been consistently wet.
• Second summer: repeat, but you can taper if the plant is clearly thriving.

Aftercare

First cut in the September of year two, light shaping only. From year three onwards, one hard cut a year in late winter or early autumn, or two cuts if you want a formal look. Under Countryside Stewardship, the equivalent farm-scale option BN5 hedgerow laying comes in around £13.52 per metre and BN7 coppicing offers rotational management for older hedges: useful reference if the plot is big enough.

Sources: Kent Wildlife Trust native hedgerow guidance; Countryside Stewardship BN5, BN7 and CHRW2 hedgerow management options; Met Office South East England rainfall averages; RHS bare-root planting guidance.