Why a mixed native hedge works around a barn conversion

A converted barn often stands on an exposed site — a ridge, a hollow, or the far side of a field where the wind has nothing to slow it down. A fence will keep stock in, but it will not break a gale. A hedge will. Because it is porous, it filters the wind rather than stopping it dead, and that softens the battering downdraught on the sheltered side. Get it right and the calm zone downwind runs for something like ten to twenty times the height of the hedge, which is usually enough to take the sting out of a terrace, a gravel yard and the old cart doors.

The other half of the argument is wildlife. A single-species hedge is a wall; a mixed native hedge is a habitat. Hawthorn and blackthorn give dense, thorny nesting cover for dunnocks, robins and blackbirds. Catkins and early blossom feed bees and moths at the lean end of the year. Berries bring in fieldfares and redwings in hard weather, and a decent base of dead leaves and tussocky grass at the foot gives hedgehogs somewhere to be. All of that comes free with the shelter, which is why the old farming hedgerows were laid out in the first place.

Choosing species for your soil and exposure

Start with the ground under your feet and the wind on your face, then pick species to match. Look at what already grows in the neighbouring hedges — that is the best guide you will get, and it is free. As a rule, aim for at least five or six species, with hawthorn or blackthorn making up roughly half the total so the hedge still knits together tightly.

• Most soils, including heavy clay: hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, dog rose, field maple.
• Chalk and limestone: field maple, wayfaring tree, spindle, dogwood, guelder rose, wild privet.
• Wet or badly drained ground: alder buckthorn, goat willow, alder, downy birch, guelder rose.
• Exposed, windy or coastal sites: holly, sea buckthorn, beech, hornbeam, blackthorn — these take the buffeting and keep their structure.
• Colour and winter interest: spindle for scarlet autumn foliage, guelder rose for translucent red berries, crab apple and wild cherry for blossom.

If the hedge is mainly a windbreak, lean on holly, beech and hornbeam. If it is mainly for wildlife, lean on hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel and let the flowering and fruiting species fill in between.

Planting bare-root whips properly

Bare-root whips are cheap, establish fast and are the right choice for a native hedge. Order them for delivery between November and March, when the plants are dormant, and get them in the ground within a few days of arriving. If you cannot plant straight away, heel them into a spare patch of soil rather than leaving the roots in a bag.

Clear a strip about 60–75cm wide along the line of the hedge — grass and weeds are the main reason new hedges fail. Fork over the strip, work in a little well-rotted manure or compost, and plant into a trench or individual slits. Spacing of 30–45cm in a single row gives a dense hedge; if you want extra thickness, use two staggered rows about 40cm apart. Set the plants at the same depth they were growing before, firm the soil around the roots with your heel, then mulch 5–7cm deep with bark or compost, keeping it clear of the stems.

Fit a spiral guard and a cane to each whip where rabbits, voles or deer are about. It looks fussy for a season or two, but it saves the whole planting.

The first three years: weed, water and thicken

Cut the whips back hard after planting, to around 15–30cm, even though it feels brutal. That single cut is what turns a row of single stems into a bushy hedge with growth from the base. Do not cut the top again for the first two or three years; let it build height.

Water thoroughly in dry spells for the first two summers — a good soak every week or so beats a daily sprinkle. Keep the strip clear of grass and weeds by hand or with a mulch, and top up the mulch each spring. After three years the hedge should be thick enough to look after itself.

When to clip — and when to leave well alone

The single most important rule is this: do not cut between March and August. Those are the months when birds are nesting, and active nests are protected by law. Cut in late winter before the season starts, or from September onwards once the young have flown. If you must tidy a stray branch in summer, check it first — a blackbird nest two feet off the ground is easy to miss.

Cut the sides with a slight batter, wider at the base than the top, so light reaches the bottom of the hedge and it does not go bare and leggy. A hand-held hedge trimmer or even shears will do a small domestic hedge perfectly well. Where you can, cut only a third or one side each year on a rotation. That leaves berries and cover standing somewhere in the hedge at all times, which is far better for wildlife than a hard annual scalping.

Laying, trimming and the rustic look

Once your hedge is established, you have a choice between keeping it clipped and formal, or laying it. Laying — partly cutting through the stems near the base and bending them over at an angle — is done in winter every ten to twenty years. It thickens the hedge from the bottom up, closes gaps, and gives that wonderful woven, pleached look that sits so well beside old brick, oak beams and lime render.

A laid or lightly trimmed native hedge also earns its keep indoors. Hazel and willow rods make hurdles and plant supports, straight stems become bean poles, and the trimmings feed a wood burner. It is a quiet kind of satisfaction: a boundary that shelters the house, feeds the birds, and gives you something to work with in the workshop come winter.