Hornbeam Hedging

Hornbeam or Carpinus betulus looks similar to Beech when grown as a hedging plant. Although capable of growing to 20 metres as a tree, these hedging hornbeam are grown specifically to be planted as hedges. They are between 3-4 years old and are well developed at 100/125cm tall and with a good branch structure. No bare rooted hedging plants make "instant" hedges, but these get pretty close without your spending a fortune.

Hornbeam clips well and carries bright green Beech-like leaves in spring that darken as summer wears on. On well trimmed hedging, the dead leaves hang into January although Hornbeam hedges do not keep their dead foliage for as long as Beech.

Hornbeam likes heavy soils and (unlike Beech) tolerates poor drainage. Nevertheless they like trench planting and ground preparation should be good. Water well in their first growing year as (like all hedge plants) hornbeam dies if its roots dry out. Plant at 3 per metre in a single row or for a fuller hedge at 4-5 plants per metre in a double row.

These Hornbeam hedging plants are sold in packs of 50 - if you would like to buy fewer plants, then they are available singly (along with Hornbeam of other sizes on our Hornbeam page.

Choose our Beech hedging pack if your soil is well drained. Please ask if you are not sure.