Winter is the season for bare-root whips

From November to March, while plants are dormant, you can plant bare-root hedging. These young trees and shrubs are lifted from nursery fields and sold without soil around their roots. They are cheaper, lighter and establish better than pot-grown plants, and because they are lifted while dormant they suffer less shock and root quickly into warming spring soil. If you want a boundary that doubles as a wildlife corridor and a larder, this is the moment. A mixed native hedge gives blossom in spring, berries in autumn and dense cover for nesting birds.

Choosing a mix for boundary and larder

A mixed hedge beats a single species for wildlife and usefulness. Aim for roughly 60 per cent thorny, dense plants and 40 per cent fruiting or flowering shrubs. For a 1.5 to 2 metre boundary, these bare-root whips suit most British soils.

• Hawthorn — dense and thorny, superb for nesting birds, with haws for winter thrushes.
• Blackthorn — early blossom, then sloes for gin or jelly. It suckers, so give it room.
• Hazel — February catkins and nuts in September.
• Field maple — butter-yellow autumn colour and good shelter.
• Dog rose — pink summer flowers and red hips for syrup.
• Guelder rose — white lace flowers and red berries, happy on damp ground.
• Crab apple — blossom for pollinators and fruit for jelly.
• Holly — evergreen shelter and winter berries, though you need male and female plants for fruit.

On heavy clay or thin chalk, ask a nursery for locally suited species. Beech and hornbeam hold dead leaves through winter for a dense screen, but offer less for foraging. If you want an edible hedge, plant extra blackthorn, hazel and crab apple.

Preparing a weed-free strip

Grass and perennial weeds are the main reason young hedges fail. Clear a strip 60 to 90 centimetres wide along the boundary. Dig out couch grass, bindweed, brambles and nettle roots by hand. If you have time, smother the strip with cardboard and compost for a few months. Fork over the top 20 centimetres and work in a bucket of well-rotted manure per metre. Do not overfeed: rich soil makes soft growth. A pH of 6 to 7.5 suits most hedging species. Mark the line with string and canes, then set out whips at 30 to 45 centimetres apart in a double, staggered row. Staggering gives a thicker hedge.

Planting the whips

If you cannot plant at once, heel the whips into spare soil so the roots stay damp. Before planting, stand them in water for an hour. Cut back damaged roots and shorten the top growth to about 15 centimetres above ground — this encourages a bushy base rather than a single leggy stem. Dig a hole wide enough to spread the roots, place the whip so the old soil mark sits at ground level, and firm in layers with your boot. Water well. Fit a rabbit guard if needed, and mulch with compost or bark, keeping it clear of the stems. A spiral guard also protects against strimmer damage.

Watering, weeding and the first cuts

The first two summers make the hedge. Water deeply every two weeks in dry spells and keep the strip weed-free. Mulch each spring. In the first winter after planting, cut all whips back by half. In the second winter, cut the new growth back by half again. After that, trim in winter (November to February), tapering the sides so the top is narrower than the base. Never cut between March and August, when birds nest. Leave a section uncut each year for berries and hips. Do not forage from a young hedge: wait three to five years, then take only a little.

A living boundary that gives back

Patience is part of the pleasure. A bare-root hedge planted this winter looks like sticks until spring, then knits together. By its third year you have a green screen; by its fifth, a proper hedgerow. Then come blackthorn blossom, hazel catkins, rosehips and sparrows deep in the thorns. Your boundary will shelter the garden, soak up rain and link your plot to the countryside. One autumn, when sloes are blue and crab apples glow, you will step out with a basket and understand why a hedge is the best fence a forager or gardener can plant. It will take a few years, but the result is a boundary that is alive.