Green Beech Hedge Plants - Fagus sylvatica
A Green Beech, Fagus sylvatica, hedge is one of the best garden hedges there is: outstanding in a formal setting or as stockproof country hedging.
These native beech plants are the ideal size for starting a hedge, but if they are allowed to grow freely, they will become a big majestic tree with soaring branches. You can buy our largest starting sizes of beech tree here if you want a large tree instead of a hedge.
These are bareroot beech plants - you can order them now for delivery during the winter, from November. If you want to plant your hedge now, we can deliver these same plants in pots.
Both in hedge and tree, young Beech leaves are bright green in spring, darkening as summer wears on. The mostly smooth, sometimes rippled bark is a shade of elephant grey.
If you clip it in late summer, Green Beech hedging
holds its autumn leaves right through the winter. This gives you the
seasonal interest of a deciduous tree with the privacy of an evergreen.
Which size should you buy?
It depends on your time and budget: smaller plants ensure a really bushy hedge from the ground up, but take more time to reach the desired height. Larger plants cost more and give you instant cover.
Is your soil suitable for growing Green Beech?
Beech is happy in any well-drained soil type.
If it takes more than a day for surface water to drain away after heavy rains, then your soil is probably too heavy for Beech. Hornbeam is a good alternative for damp soil.
Well grown Beech hedging is stockproof and it is perfect for the tops of banks. Fagus sylvatica loves the drainage and is good in wind.
Spacing your Beech hedge plants:
Beech hedge plants can be planted in a single row at 3 per metre, 33cms apart, or in a staggered double row at 4-5 per metre.
Pruning your new beech hedge:
After planting your beech, just nip off an inch, 2-3cms, off the end of each stem. Read more about pruning your new beech hedge as it matures here.
Pruning your mature beech hedge:
Beech hedging needs to be trimmed in midsummer if you want it to hold its autumn leaves. The ideal day for a haircut is overcast with rain on the way; full sun on the freshly cut leaves can cause the edges to brown and plants always like to have a drink after a trim. Read more about trimming mature beech hedges here.
How big is a beech hedge?
A mature beech hedge can be as big as you like - the tallest is in Scotland, in a place called Meikleour. It is 100 feet tall in places.
Your hedge can also become very wide, improving its ability to slow the wind and muffle sound from a busy road.
Are you looking for something else? Click here to buy Beech plants with copper leaves or in discounted packs of 50.
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