Hedging My Beets



I've got a plan!  Which is the only gardening to be done today, because, whilst it's true, as Tom says, that a little rain never hurt no one, I think I'd look more than a little over-dedicated if I went to the allotment during an actual storm.

The thing is now, to be sure to get all the boundary clear and ready for the hedgerow, which should be mostly planted in January. That involves quite a bit of work on the eastern boundary, particularly the bloody old midden. So I need to prioritise that, and shelve the pond and the path projects for now.

So I'm shopping around for appropriate bare root plants. Working on the basis that I'm planting five to the yard, and that I've got 80 yards of boundary all together, that's 400 plants. I've got several hundred gorse seeds, let's say I get 100 gorse bushes from them. I got given a few plants from a neighbour, and then there are about a dozen fruit bushes to move. I can propagate more fruit bushes from cuttings to fill any gaps. So, long story short, I need to buy about 250-300 hedgerow plants. These will be mostly hawthorn, with other plants such as dog roses, blackthorn, and hazel. I'm looking at 1 year old plants, 40-60cm. I searched "buy hedgerow plants native hedgerow".

Best4Hedging are doing 250 plants, at a price which works out at about 42p each. Hedges Direct works out fractionally more. Evergreen Hedging reference "native hedges" somewhere on their website, but I'm buggered if I can find a price anywhere for them; (sell a lot of leylandii, mind, for privacy obsessives who don't like their neighbours).

Ashridge Trees are looking good, their 250 plants works out at roughly 39p a plant. Hedges Online don't do a hedgerow mix, but one could make up a mix from their other plants, but at 75p each for hawthorn, they're pricey. Kingco comes in at 47p per plant. Hopes Grove Nurseries , when you factor in the vat and delivery charge comes out at a very nice 36p per plant. Glebe Farm works out at 65p per plant.

Hedging Plants Direct give you a price by the metre, and it works out at 60p per plant. Buckingham Nurseries are doing them for 44p, BUT these are 60-90cm, so I assume they are 2yr olds. Might be worth the extra pennies. Mill Farm Plants also go by the metre, and it's 46p per plant.  The Tree and Hedge Company will send a "bespoke quotation", and I'll blog that information when I get it.

There are probably more I could turn up with changed search terms, but I'm getting chewed off with all these websites now, it's Friday, and it's almost wine o'clock. Unless The Tree and Hedge Company come up with something interesting, it's looking like a choice between Hopes Grove and Buckingham Nurseries. I'm off to consult a bottle of Pinot Grigio.

PS: [Monday 16th Nov], Tree and Hedge Company got in touch promptly. They do not deal in bare root plants.

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