{"id":613787730246,"date":"2025-10-16T16:41:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/uncategorized\/what-bareroot-tree-hedge-plant-means\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T08:41:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:41:03","slug":"what-bareroot-tree-hedge-plant-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ashridgetrees.co.uk\/blogs\/gardening\/what-bareroot-tree-hedge-plant-means\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are Bare Root Plants?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Bareroot means no soil around the roots when delivered <\/h2>\n
The majority of hedging plants and trees in the UK are planted bareroot<\/strong>, but for many new gardeners, the idea of buying a plant with no soil around its roots feels wrong: how can they survive transit without a pot?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The secret is that they are dormant, sleeping in Winter. They don\u2019t mind being lifted without soil because their roots are not active, the tree is not using up water. <\/p>\n
All bareroot means is that there is no soil around the roots of a plant when it is delivered and transplanted. <\/p>\n
Bareroot plants are very common, almost all flower bulbs are planted when dormant with neither leaf nor root. But not everyone knows that most large scale plantings are bareroot, about 90% of all hedging and trees, and over half of all roses.<\/p>\n
All plants slow down in the winter as temperatures drop and light levels fall. Deciduous trees and shrubs lose their leaves in winter and go to sleep completely. Evergreen plants such as yew do not become completely dormant, but they are sleepy enough!<\/p>\n
While in \u201cshut down mode\u201d they only need sufficient dampness at the root to prevent desiccation and cell damage. <\/p>\n
Bareroot trees and plants have a number of significant advantages over their pot grown versions:<\/p>\n
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Bareroot plants are grown in open ground which means they tend to be bigger and stronger than potgrown stock<\/li>\n
For the same reason they are less likely to suffer from the family of diseases generally known as \u201croot root\u201d<\/li>\n
Because there is no need for pots, compost and pot specific watering systems they are much cheaper to produce and buy<\/li>\n
There are no heavy rootballs or pots with compost to pack and transport. This makes carriage either vastly cheaper or quite simply, possible.<\/li>\n
For the eco-conscious, bareroot plants are generally carbon positive (good for the climate) which potted and rootballed stock are not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Without wishing to labour the point, 500 bareroot hawthorn hedging plants weigh less than 25kgs. The same plants in 2 litre pots would weigh a tonne. Literally. Or, a bare rooted 6\/8 standard english oak can be easily lifted with one hand. The same tree in a suitably sized pot is a two-man lift.<\/p>\n
To paint the picture fairly, there are some (relatively minor) disadvantages as well.<\/p>\n
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Bareroot plants suffer some root loss when they are lifted. In the long run this is good as root pruning creates a denser rootball, but in the short term it means they take a little longer to start growing after planting than potted plants. Root-loss is less in smaller plants than larger trees.<\/li>\n
Because of this root loss, barerooted plants are more prone to die of thirst if they are not watered when it is dry in the spring and early summer after planting.<\/li>\n
Because near-dormancy is necessary for bareroot planting, the season is restricted to the months of November \u2013 April (May in a late spring).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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