Sweet Briar / Eglantine Hedging Plants

• Common names: Sweet Briar, Eglantine
• Latin name: Rosa rubiginosa (formerly Rosa eglanteria)
• Native: Yes
• Sold as: Bareroot hedge plants, 40/60 and 60/80cm tall
• Evergreen: No. Deciduous, and very thorny
• Hedge height: Up to about 3m
• Size unpruned: About 3.5m tall by 1.5 to 2.5m wide
• Spacing: 3 plants per metre, or 6 in a double staggered row
• Scent: Apple-scented leaves, and fragrant flowers
• Flowers: Single, blush-pink, once in summer
• Hips: Red, freely carried and lasting into winter
• Position: Full sun is best. Tolerates shade and exposure
• Soil: Moist but well-drained. Tolerates poor soil
• Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Hardiness: H7, hardy in the severest British winter
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Sweet Briar is the native wild Rose with apple-scented leaves: a vigorous, upright, very prickly shrub with single blush-pink flowers in summer and red hips that last into winter. It makes a rough country hedge up to about 3 metres, alone or in a mix, and it is on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list.

Sweet Briar / Eglantine Hedging Plants

Rosa rubiginosa, Eglantine Rose, is an excellent country hedging plant. It's suitable for any soil with decent drainage.
Rosa rubiginosa is good for hedges up to about 3 metres high.

See our selection of native hedging plants or view our full range of hedging.

Rosa rubiginosa hedge plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-April).

All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Rosa rubiginosa hedge:
Plant at 3 plants per metre, 33cm apart.
You can also plant at 6 plants per metre in a staggered double row, with 33cm between each plant along the row and 40cm between the rows.

General description of Rosa rubiginosa plants:

The Eglantine or Sweet Briar Rose is a vigorous country hedging rose that makes an impenetrable thicket of thorny stems. It has apple scented leaves that smell especially good after rain. It produces sprays of fragrant, delicate, variably pink flowers in summer. These ripen into deep orange hips that stay on the branches well into winter. Sweet Briar makes a good, rough and ready hedge all itself and also looks great in a mixed hedge with hawthorn or blackthorn.

History & Trivia

You may also see this rose listed as Rosa eglanteria.

Planting Companions

Sweet Briar mixes well with Hawthorn and Blackthorn, and it is one of the plants in our Livestock Friendly hedge pack. For a thorny run of wild Roses, add Dog Rose, or see all our wild Roses. Dust the roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Ashridge for Hedging?

Hedging is not a sideline here: your Sweet Briar is grown for us as hedging by specialist growers. Bareroot plants are lifted to order while dormant and guaranteed for 12 months. Ashridge has sold plants since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which part of Sweet Briar is scented?

The leaves. They smell of apples, most of all after rain. The flowers are fragrant too.

How long does it flower?

Once, in summer. The flowers are single, a clear blush-pink and about 4cm across, carried along the branches. Red hips follow and last into winter.

How tall does a Sweet Briar hedge grow?

Keep it as a hedge up to about 3 metres. Left alone, it grows about 3.5 metres tall and 1.5 to 2.5 metres wide.

When should you prune it?

In late winter. Delay pruning until then so that you keep the hips.

Is Eglantine the same plant?

Yes. Rosa eglanteria is a synonym of Rosa rubiginosa, so Eglantine and Sweet Briar are one plant.

What soil does it need?

Any soil with decent drainage, in sun for the best flowers. It tolerates poor soil and shade, and suits hedging.

When are the plants delivered?

Bareroot only, from November to April, while the plants are dormant. You can order at any time of year and your plants are lifted and sent once the season opens.