Prunus Padus Hedging

Bird Cherry, Prunus padus, is a small tree or large shrub that makes a good country hedging plant for very poor dry soils, as long as there is plenty of sun.
Bird Cherry will reach 10 metres if it grows freely as a tree.
The plants on this page are young saplings, ideal for planting as hedging or in woodland projects. You can also buy larger Bird Cherry trees here.
Browse all of our other varieties of wild and cultivated Cherry Blossom trees for sale. Alternatively, view our selection of native hedging or see our full range of hedging plants.

Bird Cherry hedge plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering Bird Cherry plants for a hedge, we generally recommend that you use plants that are graded at 40/60cms or 60/80cms. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and they will establish well in poor conditions.
Use the larger 120/150cm tall plants if you want a mature hedge quickly or for instant impact as a specimen tree or shrub.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Bird Cherry hedge:
Plant Bird Cherry hedging at 3 plants per metre, 33cms apart.
You can also plant Bird Cherry at 5 plants per metre in a staggered double row, with 33 cms between each plant along the row and 40cms between the rows.

General description of Bird Cherry plants:
The Bird Cherry is native cherry tree that grows quickly to a final height of about 10 metres. It has cone-shaped strings of scented white flowers in May/June. The dark fruit that ripen in autumn are edible but taste quite bitter; with a good dose of sugar, you can experiment with using them in jams, but we think that it's best to just leave them for the birds. The leaves look great in autumn. Bird Cherry Trees grow almost anywhere except on wet soils. As with all cherries, pruning should be done in summer to reduce the risk of bacterial canker.

Growing Bird Cherry plants:
Bird Cherry is a very hardy plant that thrives on poor, dry soils. It needs full sun and may struggle on shallow chalk, although it is fine for most alkaline sites.
It will not grow well in the shade or on damp sites. It is not suitable for coastal areas and we don't recommend it as a windbreak hedge for exposed areas because the wind will blast it out of shape.

Prepare your site before planting:
Native hedge plants like Bird Cherry are very 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.

Watch our video on how to plant a country hedge for full details. The instruction to cut the plants in half after planting only applies to thorny native hedging and plants in the conservation hedge mix: this isn't necessary for Bird Cherry.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
If you are planting in an area with rabbit and/or deer, you will need to use a plastic spiral guard for each plant, supported by a bamboo cane.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £6.50 + 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.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

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.

Misc	Wildlife Value
Shade	Partial Shade
Soil	Alkaline/Chalky
Colour	White/Cream
Type	Hedging, Native
Also Good	Autumn Colour

	NUMBER OF PLANTS Inc. VAT
SIZES	1-9	10-49	50-249	250-999	1000+
60/80 cm	Plenty of Stock£2.58	Plenty of Stock£1.38	Plenty of Stock£1.26	Plenty of Stock£1.02	Plenty of Stock£0.72
120/150 cm	Plenty of Stock£4.38	Plenty of Stock£3.18	Plenty of Stock£2.82	Plenty of Stock£2.58	Plenty of Stock£2.34

Bird Cherry

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Prunus Padus Hedging