Why we root trim our hedging plants

This picture is of two identical Portuguese Laurel hedge plants grown in our open ground nursery in Farnham, Surrey. Both were planted at the same time and both were lifted out of the ground ready for potting into containers which will then be grown and finished off on our main nursery site before being ready to sell next year as ready to go hedging.

We are looking at the roots here. The picture on the left shows a plant that has been growing away quite happily. However, the picture on the right shows a plant that was root trimmed a couple of months ago. The plant on the right is showing a much more extensive and fibrous root system. Trimming the roots at the right time of year causes a second flush of bushy growth of the roots before the winter kicks in.

Why does this matter you ask? Well, cast your mind back to biology lessons at school and you will recall that the roots of the plant are all important for taking up water and minerals. In very basic terms, the more roots a plant has, the better it will grow. In this case, the plant on the right will establish significantly quicker when it is potted into a container and will ultimately establish much quicker when planted into the garden. Root trimming makes the roots of a plant much healthier and stronger. We often leave the odd plant at the end of the row without its roots trimmed so that we can compare the difference between them and show you photographs like this.

If you are interested in how we trim the roots of our plants, you can view our video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Vq32r64LU

So when you buy a new hedge, always consider how good the roots are as that will be a key indicator to the successful establishment after planting. You can always be sure that any plants purchased from Hedges Online have a high quality root system and your new hedge from us will establish quickly in your garden.

In the colder months of the year we supply an extensive range of popular hedging varieties in root balls and as bare root plants, as well as our usual range of container grown hedging that we supply all year round. Visit our main site to view all of our hedging varieties, including Yew, Laurel, Beech, Thuja, Box, Hornbeam, Leylandii, Portuguese Laurel and many many more.