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FAQs
Native to the UK, hornbeam creates a vigorous and almost indestructible hedge, thriving in shady positions with heavy and poorly draining soils.
What is the Difference Between Hornbeam and Beech?
Green Beech, Fagus sylvatica, and Hornbeam, Carpinus betulus, are unrelated but similar looking when grown as a hedge.
Basically, Beech is best, but if it's not suitable for your location, Hornbeam is a pretty close substitute.
Difference in Appearance:
- Beech is definitely the most popular due to its faster growth and more beautiful, smooth green leaves, which hang onto the branches through most of Winter
- Hornbeam leaves are wrinkled, a more muted shade of green, and only remain on the branches for part of the Winter.
Difference in Growing Conditions:
- Beech really needs plenty of sun and well drained soil: it does not perform well in the shade, nor in damp soils that waterlog in Winter.
- Hornbeam pretty much grows anywhere, and is definitely suitable for shady sites and damp soils.
If there are puddles of rainwater where you are going to plant your hedge 12-24 hours after heavy rain, the ground is probably too wet for beech.
Hornbeam hedge plants are very hardy, and wind resistant, but not suitable for coastal areas with salty wind. They love heavy clay soil and do not mind damp or shady conditions.
They do not like dry, thin, sandy, or chalky soils.
You can plant Hornbeam hedging at any time of year, except when the soil is frozen.
The best time to plant hornbeam is in winter (November to March), using bareroot stock, which is cheaper, easier to carry and plant, and tends to establish even better than the pot grown equivalents.
Hornbeam Hedge Planting Instructions:
For Hornbeam up to 60/80cm, which are small enough to be slit planted, watch our film on how to plant a country hedge with one key difference: don't cut hornbeam back by 50% after planting, just trim an inch off the tips of the stems.
For Hornbeam 80/100cm upwards, the larger roots will need trench planting, so watch our film on how to plant a formal hedge.
Spacing a Hornbeam Hedge:
The planting density for your Hornbeam hedge depends on the purpose:
- For a normal garden boundary hedge, plant at 3 plants per metre (every 33cm) in a single row.
- A stock-proof country hedge requires 2 staggered single rows (i.e. start one row 16.5cm after the other), with 40cm between rows. That works out at 5 plants per metre in total.
- An interior hedge for purely decorative purposes can be planted at 2 plants per metre (every 50cm) in a single row.
Once your Hornbeam hedge is planted (on the same day if fine) give them a very light trim by snipping off the top bud from the end of each stem - this will encourage them to become bushier.
When the hedge is established, trim in late spring and again in early August: this is essential to make it hold onto its leaves in winter
If necessary, carry out heavier pruning and remedial work in winter. You can be drastic as all members of the Carpinus family regrow from old wood when they are cut back hard.
No, but unlike most other deciduous plants, it does not drop its dead autumn leaves right away when it is clipped as a hedge. They will remain on the branches well into winter, adding privacy, visual interest, and shelter from wind.