Wayfaring Trees

Viburnum Lantana Hedging

The Wayfaring Tree, Viburnum lantana, is a large native shrub or small, bushy tree that is great for mixed country hedges. It will grow on any soil or situation apart from waterlogged sites and inner-city roadside.
Wayfaring Tree is good for hedges up to about 5 metres high and will reach the same height if it grows freely as a tree.
Browse all of our other varieties of Viburnum trees & shrubs plants. Alternatively, see our selection of native hedging plants or view our full range of hedging.

Wayfaring Tree hedge plants are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering Wayfaring Tree 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, 90/120cms tall plants if you want a tall hedge quickly or for instant impact as a specimen tree or bush.
All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Spacing a Wayfaring Tree hedge:
Plant Wayfaring Tree hedging at 3 plants per metre, 33cms apart.
You can also plant it 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 Wayfaring Tree plants:
Viburnum lantana is a large, deciduous, native shrub. It has easily recognizable leaves: large and hairy, with deep veins. These turn brilliant crimson in autumn. The fragrant, white flowers in spring are carried in rounded clusters that are between the size of a fist and an outstretched hand. These ripen into strings of red fruit that turn black as they mature, which are eaten by several types of bird.

History & uses of Viburnum lantana:
These plants are native to Britain in a range south of about Yorkshire and are fine to plant in sheltered sites further North. An old name for Wayfaring Trees is hoarwithy. The berries are edible in an emergency and our ancestors would have eaten them, preferably well cooked, if there was nothing else around. We don't recommend trying them; they are likely to make you sick if they aren't really ripe.