Hedgerow Costs

[Macqueen890]

Hi all
I'm looking to plant around 350 metres in all of mixed native species. Can anyone give me a cost estimate or a link to where I can find out the latest costs?
Cheers
-Glenn

 

[farmerm]

Hi all
I'm looking to plant around 350 metres in all of mixed native species. Can anyone give me a cost estimate or a link to where I can find out the latest costs?
Cheers
-Glenn

I would wait!! There is a good chance ELMS will pay for it to be done in a year or so.

 

[Werzle]

I would wait!! There is a good chance ELMS will pay for it to be done in a year or so.

Trouble is prices will get hiked once there are grants for it all. I priced up 500 quicks 60-80cm with guards at about £700 inc vat

 

[Brisel]

Nix Farm Management Pocketbook has a good guide. Mine is circa £14/metre for a double row of plants spaced roughly 18" apart, planted by contractors in 75cm Easywrap guards with bamboo canes. Half hawthorn, half a 12 way mix of other species like holly, wayfaring, dogwood, Guelder rose, crab apple, wild pear, spindle, buckthorn, field maple, privet

 

[IEM]

Woodland trust are doing hedge planting grants at the moment, think it’s called MoreHedges. Can pay a fair bit if the cost.

 

[wr.]

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[Werzle]

Woodland trust are doing hedge planting grants at the moment, think it’s called MoreHedges. Can pay a fair bit if the cost.

I think you have to plant a tree every 6 metres to qualify

 

[Werzle]

Does everybody use canes for hedge plants or can you get away without them?

 

[Brisel]

Use canes or the guards will fall over. No guards or fence protection means hares and rabbits will bark the stems.

 

[Werzle]

Use canes or the guards will fall over. No guards or fence protection means hares and rabbits will bark the stems.

I wish we had hares, plenty of rabbits although its been so mild i have seen a few with myxomatosis lately

 

[Brisel]

I thought that the rabbits got more Mixy/VHD when it was colder and they spent more time in close proximity underground?

 

[Werzle]

You could be correct but i always thought the midges spread it worse in warm weather

 

[Brisel]

You could be correct but i always thought the midges spread it worse in warm weather

My knowledge of both diseases isn’t great. The amount of it about in mild winters suggests that there are other vectors so you could be right.

I hate putting guards on as they just grow like lollipops with no side branching lower down which means I’ve got to lay new hedges after 7-8 years. That still works out cheaper and with a better end result than double rabbit fencing unguarded hedges. We’ve also seen serious raptor kills of songbirds and grey partridge against the tight mesh fencing. Harvest mice like the guards too.

 

[Doing it for the kids]

My knowledge of both diseases isn’t great. The amount of it about in mild winters suggests that there are other vectors so you could be right.

I hate putting guards on as they just grow like lollipops with no side branching lower down which means I’ve got to lay new hedges after 7-8 years. That still works out cheaper and with a better end result than double rabbit fencing unguarded hedges. We’ve also seen serious raptor kills of songbirds and grey partridge against the tight mesh fencing. Harvest mice like the guards too.

we have a hedge with no base because of this. Need to take guards off after a few years to let them bush out

 

[Brisel]

we have a hedge with no base because of this. Need to take guards off after a few years to let them bush out

How many years do you leave them on for? I normally leave it until there’s 6” of growth above the top of the guard and remove them late in the winter so there’s less time for the hares to nibble the stems before other fresher spring growth entices them away.

 

[dudders]

I'm putting in another batch of 700 now, makes it 2500 in the last 3 seasons. That's a lot of digging. I get plants from Mill Farm Trees - check out on their website what species you're looking for and you'll see how much it'll cost. Best to get a good mix. I'm not bothered with a 'stockproof' hedge, ie: hawthorn, because I'm electric-fenced anyway. Hedges needed to be stockproof in the old days when that's all there was, but who would depend only on a hedge to keep stock in today? Hawthorn is the cheapest to buy though.

One hedge I put in last spring, between 2 fields and with plenty of sunlight, is entirely soft fruit - currants, gooseberries, etc, with some rosa rugosa. It's all still there and fruited in the first season. It's for the birds, really, but we did well out of it too.

I haven't bothered with canes or guards at all and have hardly lost any. But then rabbits are not a problem here, at the moment. Deer have nipped off a few tops, but I reckon that'll help them bush out. It's cheaper to replace a few plants than to buy thousands of plastic guards and stakes, and less hassle too. Shove the plant in and move on.

 

[Chasingmytail]

The option is weeding areas or cane and tubing - If you dont intend to weed or maintain def plastic tubing. The issue is exposed site, dont under estimate the wind. You can spend a few days straightening them the following year.

 

[Exfarmer]

Nix Farm Management Pocketbook has a good guide. Mine is circa £14/metre for a double row of plants spaced roughly 18" apart, planted by contractors in 75cm Easywrap guards with bamboo canes. Half hawthorn, half a 12 way mix of other species like holly, wayfaring, dogwood, Guelder rose, crab apple, wild pear, spindle, buckthorn, field maple, privet

That is far too wide apart rows need to be no more than 9 “ apart and spacing one plant every 6 inches alternately.
if you can I would use netting rather than plastic guards, however that makes spraying under difficult.

 

[dudders]

Not a lot of difference there: 6 plants to the yard instead of 5.

Here's some costing to think about:

350 metres @ 6 plants per m. = 2100 plants.
@ Mill Farm average cheapest price per plant, native hedging mix (42p) = £ 882

2100 canes and guards @ 31p per pair = £ 651

Total £ 1533 + delivery (£28.50) + VAT (£312.30) = £ 1874 for your 350 metres, DIY planting.

I can tell you that's a big job on your own, so add in some labour costs too. I can only do about 100 a day if I'm lucky, because there's other stuff that still has to be done each day. Also I dig each plant its own hole and bed it in with some FYM and a watering, rather than just opening a slit and stuffing it in. I wouldn't want 3 solid weeks of that...

Over the last 3 seasons I've put in about 2500 and have lost hardly any so far - maybe 20. Plenty of time yet, though, to lose a few more. I've not used any guards or stakes - £ 651 is a lot of replacement plants, even at £1 each! But then I don't have a rabbit problem. Recent high winds have only pushed a few holly plants over, and not much at that.

You can spend a bit more by adding holly, beech and a few others into the mix, especially plants that are good for fruiting and flowering. I won't have any hazel or blackthorn at all - hazel just grows straight up to the top with no side growth, and blackthorn's a weed that will quickly take over the hedge and try to take over the field too.

 

[Exfarmer]

Not a lot of difference there: 6 plants to the yard instead of 5.

Here's some costing to think about:

350 metres @ 6 plants per m. = 2100 plants.
@ Mill Farm average cheapest price per plant, native hedging mix (42p) = £ 882

2100 canes and guards @ 31p per pair = £ 651

Total £ 1533 + delivery (£28.50) + VAT (£312.30) = £ 1874 for your 350 metres, DIY planting.

I can tell you that's a big job on your own, so add in some labour costs too. I can only do about 100 a day if I'm lucky, because there's other stuff that still has to be done each day. Also I dig each plant its own hole and bed it in with some FYM and a watering, rather than just opening a slit and stuffing it in. I wouldn't want 3 solid weeks of that...

Over the last 3 seasons I've put in about 2500 and have lost hardly any so far - maybe 20. Plenty of time yet, though, to lose a few more. I've not used any guards or stakes - £ 651 is a lot of replacement plants, even at £1 each! But then I don't have a rabbit problem. Recent high winds have only pushed a few holly plants over, and not much at that.

You can spend a bit more by adding holly, beech and a few others into the mix, especially plants that are good for fruiting and flowering. I won't have any hazel or blackthorn at all - hazel just grows straight up to the top with no side growth, and blackthorn's a weed that will quickly take over the hedge and try to take over the field too.

Oh dear, let us explain. Take a spade dig spade to full depth, push forward, place plant behind spade, carefully withdraw spade and heel in. Move spade back 6 inch and over to other row and repeat.