DescriptionPlanting InstructionsAfter CareDelivery & Guarantee
Game Cover Plants - Delivered in Bundles of 50 Plants with a 1 Year Guarantee
This pack of 50 mixed bushes & shrubs is intended for planting as shelter for game animals and wildlife. It is not for planting as a hedge. You can order the same plants individually from their respective pages, but you will save money on the same size plants by buying the pack.
We will choose the plants that go into the mix from the following list: we regret that we cannot accept requests for specific plants to be used in your pack. If you want to be certain of having a particular plant in your mix, please order it separately.
These plants are evergreen or semi-evergreen and thornless, so they provide year round cover for animals and they are easy for beaters and game keepers to walk through. They will produce fruit for birds to eat and their flowers & leaves will support bees and butterlies, but for the most part these plants are not appealing food for deer and other grazing animals.
You can plant these shade-tolerant plants in existing woodland or out in the open to create a new copse.
Although all of the plants in this pack make good hedging on their own, they are not really suitable for planting together in a mixed hedge. The big plants like the cherry laurel would constantly be out-growing the smaller ones.
Game Cover hedge packs are
only delivered bareroot, during winter (November - March).
The
plants in this pack will be 30-80 cms tall when we deliver them. All our
hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).
Spacing Game Cover plants:
This pack is not intended for a hedge. It is meant to be planted randomly and allowed to grow freely to create natural looking cover for wildlife.
You can decide on planting distances to suit your site: 2 metres between each plant will make a fairly dense thicket that is still quite easy to walk through. Planting them more closely together will provide more shelter for very exposed sites. Planting them further apart will increase visibility and make it easier for groups of people to walk through it.
Growing Game Cover plants:
Game Cover will grow well in any conditions with decent drainage. It is tolerant of dappled shade and can be planted under established woodland trees.
They will not grow well if the site is too wet or chalky.
Prepare your site before planting:
These wildlife cover plants are tough. The only essential preparation is to kill the weeds in a strip a metre wide along the planting site: improving the soil should not be necessary. If your soil is exceptionally poor and dry, then digging in some well rotted manure and/or compost is worthwhile.
These plants are young and strong. On most sites, they can be slit-planted. Simply push the spade into the soil, wiggle it backwards and forwards to make a V shaped hole. Sweep the roots of the plant down into the hole and squash the soil back firmly with your boot.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.
Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
If your soil quality is poor, we suggest using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.
After you plant your shrubs, the most important thing to do is water them in dry weather. If you didn't use mulch of some kind, you will also need to weed around them. Both of these will be necessary for at least a year after planting.
Evergreen plants are active and using water
throughout the year. This means that if the weather is dry in winter, your establishing plants need to be watered.
Trimming Game cover plants:
Your plants don't really need to be trimmed, but you will encourage really bushy growth if you let them settle in for a couple of years and then shear the top foot or so off each plant in winter.
Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.
Read our full terms and conditions here.
Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £9.49 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
You can choose the delivery week that suits you during checkout and we will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.
Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.
Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.
Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.
Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.
Your 12 Month Guarantee
If any plants die within a year, we replace them if you have followed our instructions. You only pay for
the delivery of the replacements.
Place an order for £250 excluding VAT and delivery and we deliver it for FREE!
Bare-root Plants are only delivered in the winter season, from November to March. Pot grown plants can be delivered all year round
Advantages of Bare-root plants:
You pay less for the same size plants.
You can carry and plan them easily.
You only plant them in winter, so they need less maintenance after
planting. The rain will water them for their first few months.
You get the biggest selection: Many trees are not sold pot-grown.
They are "asleep" in winter - this is the best time to transplant any tree.
They use fewer fertilisers & fungicides, less water and fuel in their production & delivery.
Advantages of Pot Grown plants:
Pot grown plants can be delivered & planted all year round.
Plants with tender roots & larger specimens must be delivered in pots.
Plants in pots can be kept for months longer if there is a delay in planting.
Our Advice to You:
If you can't wait to get planting, order Pot grown plants now.
If you are not in a hurry, order bare-root plants for delivery this winter. Simply add them to your basket and choose a winter delivery date that suits you during checkout.
This will reserve your plants before they sell out.
We won't charge you until the day before delivery, so cancelling your order is always easy.
If you are only ordering chemicals and other small items, delivery is £3.50
Our delivery charge for most bareroot plants is £9.49 + VAT.
If your order contains any standard sized trees, fruit trees or pot-grown plants, then the delivery charge is £12.55 + VAT in TOTAL.
If you live in the Scottish Highlands or the Isle of Wight, there will be an extra charge of £15 + VAT on top of the appropriate basic charge, as listed above.
If your order is over £250 exc. VAT, there will be no delivery charge.
If you are uncertain, just add items to your basket which will calculate the basic shipping charge for you.
