15% PRE-ORDER DISCOUNT ON BARE ROOT PLANTS. USE CODE BARE15 AT CHECKOUT. DELIVERIES BEGIN FROM 2 NOVEMBER5–12.5% OFF POTTED PLANTS, ROOT BALLS, & INSTANT HEDGING ORDERS OVER £300. DISCOUNT AUTOMATICALLY APPLIED AT CHECKOUT (NO CODE NEEDED)
Native (one of the very few native evergreen species)
Quite slow growing (though not as slow as many people believe), retaining a neat shape throughout the winter
A very attractive dark green, useful as a background in a border
Can be trimmed into intricate shapes, including topiary shapes, or cloud pruned
Good for hedges varying in height from 1m up to very tall
Yew is popular as a hedging plant but can also be grown as individual trees, which are good in woodlands (where there is no risk of cattle/sheep grazing, because it is toxic) to provide some evergreen cover
Yew is one of our most popular species and we have many options shown here, and more options on our nursery
Bare root and root ball Yew is available in several sizes in the dormant season (November to April), and we have pot grown options and 1m long troughs of instant hedging available all year round
Please contact us by phone (or you can email us at hello@hedgenursery.co.uk) if you have any questions, would like any advice, or if your order is likely to come to over £1000 - we may be able to offer a better price than the online price. We have experienced horticulturists answering calls and emails and we’re always very happy to help.
English Yew (Taxus baccata) is the classic evergreen hedge or can be grown as a tree. The bright green new Spring foliage quickly turns a very dark green colour, with autumnal tints in some Winters, and it can be trimmed into a very sharp shape which holds well through Winter giving a neat appearance for many months. Only having to trim once a year is a great asset to busy gardeners. Yew is a native evergreen species (one of only very few evergreens that are native) so it grows well in most sites and situations in the UK (from chalky to very acidic soil) providing there is good drainage, and it’s very useful for heavily shaded situations. It is often called English Yew to differentiate it from Irish Yew (which is a more upright, columnar shrub), but actually it does well in Scotland and even as far north as Scandinavia. Yew is the longest living woody shrub in Northern Europe.
There are very few evergreen species that can be grown as bare root plants, but Yew is one that is well suited. It is not particularly fast growing so whilst the majority of the species we offer will grow to 60cm from seed in one or two years, Yew needs longer and is grown from cuttings (seed raised Yew is not consistent so we prefer cuttings) and that explains why it is more expensive than the deciduous species (like Hawthorn or Blackthorn). We have all root types and sell huge quantities of all of them. If the cost of Yew is prohibitive, we recommend Lonicera nitida as a species which is similar in appearance but much quicker growing.
We particularly like Yew hedging because it forms a really dense base which is so important in a classic hedge. It makes a wonderful backdrop to perennial borders, is easy to maintain, and looks fantastic in all seasons.
Yew is a superb hedging species, its only drawbacks being that all parts of the plant are toxic (so keep away from livestock and horses as well as pets and children) and it doesn’t like wet ground. The toxicity is an interesting aspect to Yew because actually the clippings are used in cancer treatments.
Hedge Nursery has supplied vast quantities of Yew hedging plants over many years – our reviews are excellent, and you can buy with confidence knowing that you will receive top quality plants that will give you an excellent hedge. You can read more about bare root plants and how they are grown here, and more about root balls, cell grown and instant hedging.
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DELIVERY CHARGES
Delivery charges are automatically calculated at checkout, based on the size of the plants and the value of your order. Our delivery charges and the kick-in points for free delivery are highly competitive, and about 90% of orders are delivered free.
Plant Type
UK Mainland (excl. Scottish Highlands and Islands)
Scottish Highlands
Bare root plants shorter than 100cm, all cell-grown plants, plants in pots up to 7 Litres
Free for orders over £120 (or £9.90)
Free for orders over £120 (or £14.99)
Bare root plants 100-120cm
Free for orders over £300 (or £24.99)
Free for orders over £300 (or £29.99)
Bare root plants taller than 120cm, plants in pots larger than 7.5 Litres, all root ball plants and instant hedging
Free for orders over £350 (or £59.99)
£112.99
Notes:
All prices include VAT.
Orders of plants requiring delivery on pallets (bare root plants taller than 120cm, plants in pots larger than 7.5 Litres, root ball plants, and instant hedging) delivered to destinations in the UK Mainland are delivered free when the order is over £350, regardless of the number of pallets needed.
Scottish Highlands do not have a free pallet delivery option.
DESPATCH TIMELINES
Most plant specifications are in stock, so we typically dispatch within a few days after you order. Generally, we don't dispatch on Fridays, to avoid plants being in transit over a weekend. Rest assured that we will do everything we can to deliver your plants as soon as possible.
You'll receive an email from us on the despatch day, and delivery will occur within 48 hours - usually the next day, but occasionally it may take an extra day.
If you'd like to delay delivery to a date that suits your planting schedule, please include a note in the Delivery Instructions section at checkout or email us at hello@hedgenursery.co.uk.
We do not take responsibility for any deliveries delayed by couriers.
Pre-orders
For pre-ordered plants with an expected future delivery date (shown before you added them to your basket), we will dispatch around the indicated date. If your order includes both pre-order and in-stock items, we'll send everything together when the pre-order items become available.
Root Ball Plants
Root-ball plants are freshly lifted from our fields upon order. This approach ensures the plants are at their freshest when you receive them, improving their success rate. If you want delivery on a specific date, please order well in advance of when you need them.
During peak season, we lift root-ball plants twice weekly, aiming to deliver within 3-7 days. During busy periods, this may extend to 7-14 days. As the season slows, we lift once a week, with delivery within 7 working days. We'll promptly inform you of any stock unavailability or delivery delays upon receiving your order.
RECEIVING DELIVERY (Do I need to be at home?)
All deliveries will be sent with “no signature required”, so you do not need to be at home on the day of delivery.
For pallet deliveries, we will phone or email you on the day we dispatch. If you wish, you can arrange for someone to be there the following day to ensure the pallet is left in a convenient place for you to unpack the plants.
Pallets are delivered to the ‘kerbside’, but if there is driveway access for a pallet truck, the pallet will be left on the driveway or another suitable access point to your address, rather than blocking a road or pavement. Pallet trucks require a hard surface; pallets cannot be moved over gravel, soft or uneven ground, or grass.
Drivers do not unpack the pallets and it is down to the drivers discretion whether they will take the empty pallet away. If not, then customers must dispose of the pallet themselves.
RETURNS
We are rarely asked to accept a return. We can facilitate returns by collecting the parcel (s) or palletised plants from you (in their original packaging), but we do not refund the delivery charge or the carrier collection and delivery back to us. We do not accept returns if you have ordered too many plants.
If you wish to return an order, please email hello@hedgenursery.co.uk, and we will explain the process in more detail.
Pots, bare roots, root balls, instant, cell grown, P9s - if it's all double Dutch, this explanation should help you decide which root type is best for you.
The majority of hedging plants are sold as bare roots, pot grown, or root balls, so we'll start with those.
Bare Root Hedging
For many years, we only sold bare roots, so there's a lot of advice on our website about bare root plants. Here's a very quick summary, along with links to other pages you might find helpful.
Bare root plants are grown in open fields and lifted during the winter months when dormant. This is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly growing method, so they are usually the best option if you are planting from November to April and the species and height combination you want is available as bare roots (about 80% of the species on this website are available as bare roots).
We sell hundreds of thousands of bare root plants each year to thousands of customers and, for a cost-effective solution, they're hard to beat.
Everyone knows what a pot grown plant looks like, but there is often confusion about pot sizes and what you get for your money. Generally, with some exceptions, the bigger the pot size, the more mature, bushier and taller the plant will be - and the more costly.
Pot sizes are always described by the number of litres they hold. Our standard pot sizes are 2L, 5L and 10L (where L stands for litres). Pot dimensions from different manufacturers can vary, even though they all hold the same amount of growing medium, so sizes are specified by volume rather than the pot's dimensions.
There are several benefits to pot grown plants:
The range of species is very wide, with some only available in pots.
There is no root disturbance because they are grown in pots rather than lifted from fields, so the success rate is extremely high.
They can be planted year-round, though we always advise caution when planting in extremely warm weather - water generously until they are established!
Root Ball Hedging
For large plants, particularly big, bushy evergreens, the most popular root type is root balls. They are cheaper than pot-grown plants of the same height and often bushier, but they are only available during the dormant season, usually from October to April.
They're environmentally friendly because they are grown in open fields, but instead of lifting the plant bare rooted, soil is retained around the roots and wrapped in hessian. They are not quite as eco-friendly as bare roots because root balls are heavy to transport.
Instant hedging involves planting several plants (normally 5) into a 1 metre long trough and allowing them to knit together into a hedge, so that when planted by you, you get an instant effect.
Compared with other root forms, they are relatively expensive because if a single plant fails at the nursery, the whole trough is ruined. There is also a huge cost in nursery time because the plants are trimmed into a hedge shape by the nursery team and, in some more mature instant hedging, this is done many times so that the hedge becomes extremely dense.
Instant hedging is very popular and available year-round, and we are continually expanding the range of species grown this way. There's more information on instant hedging here, and we also have a blog explaining the benefits, drawbacks and how it is grown.
Cell Grown Plants
Small cell grown plants are grown by specialist nurseries in containers about the size of a small yoghurt pot, though a bit deeper because hedging plants and trees naturally have deep roots.
They are a cost-effective solution when gardeners are willing to wait for plants to grow, and they're ideal for infilling where there isn't enough space to plant larger root types. They are also often used by foresters because they are lightweight to carry to remote areas, easy to plant and have a high success rate, reducing the need for replanting.
They are increasingly used by home gardeners as hedging plants because, although they don't have the size and bushiness of pot-grown plants, they are less expensive and available year-round, making them a good alternative to small bare roots outside the bare root season.
There is very little root disturbance or loss of the fine feeding roots that plants rely upon when moved, so the success rate is extremely high. All our cell grown plants are grown in Britain.
We show prices in various bands depending on quantity, but if you are planting a woodland and need larger quantities, please contact us for a bespoke quote.
We're always happy to advise by phone or email, so please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about the best root type for you.
