Silver birch
(Betula pendula)
Provides food and habitat for more than 300 insect species. Woodpeckers and other hole-nesting birds often nest in the trunk.
Growth and size
Mature height: 25m.
Supplied as 20-50cm cell-grown saplings.
Can be planted all year round with proper care.
Value to wildlife
Seeds are eaten by long-tailed tits, siskin, greenfinch and redpolls.
Food plant for a number of insects.
Soil and conditions
Prefers sandy or acidic soils.
Will grow in most conditions.
Hazel
(Corylus avellana)
Hazelnuts are eaten by small mammals such as dormice and squirrels, as well as birds.
Growth and size
Mature height: 8m.
Supplied as 20-50cm cell-grown saplings.
Can be planted all year round with proper care.
Value to wildlife
Source of early pollen for bees that's an important protein for their growth and development.
Host plant for moth caterpillars such as the large emerald and barred umber.
Nuts are a favourite food of birds and mammals, including hazel dormice.
Soil and conditions
Tolerates most soils, especially damp or wet areas.
Forms a bushier shape on drier soils.
Hawthorn
(Crataegus monogyna)
IMPORTANT NOTE: Hawthorn is versatile and can be planted as both a single tree and in hedgerows. To get the best out of it as a hedgerow plant, saplings are cut back to grow thicker and bushier. If you’d like it to grow straight and upright again, choose a central shoot and cut back any competing shoots as it begins to flourish.
Produces white-pink blossom in May that becomes ruby-red berries, called haws, in summer.
Growth and size
Mature height: 10m.
Growth rate: 40-60cm per year.
Supplied as 20-50cm cell-grown saplings.
Can be planted all year round with proper care.
Value to wildlife
Supports more than 300 species of insect.
Flowers are eaten by dormice.
Source of pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators.
Haws are eaten by migrating birds such as redwings.
Soil and conditions
Shade-tolerant.
Prefers non-acidic, well-drained, moist soils.
Can be planted as part of a native hedgerow.
Rowan
(Sorbus aucuparia)
The bright-red berries are a rich source of food for birds, especially thrushes, redstarts and waxwing.
Growth and size
Mature height: 15m.
Supplied as 20-50cm cell-grown saplings.
Can be planted all year round with proper care.
Value to wildlife
Source of pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators.
Host plant for moth caterpillars such as the larger Welsh wave and autumn green carpet.
Berries are eaten by thrushes.
Soil and conditions
Grows in most soils.
Prefers light, well-drained and humus-rich conditions.
Blackthorn
(Prunus spinosa)
Blackthorn foliage is a great food source for caterpillars, and birds often nest among the dense thickets. The sloes are eaten by birds.
Growth and size
Mature height: 4m.
Supplied as 20-50cm cell-grown saplings.
Can be planted all year round with proper care.
Value to wildlife
Early source of nectar and pollen for bees and other insects.
Food plant of lackey, magpie, swallow-tailed and yellow-tailed moths, as well as black and brown hairstreak butterflies.
Birds often nest among the dense, thorny thickets.
Soil and conditions
Grows in moist, well-drained soil.
Prefers full sunlight.
English oak
(Quercus robur)
Supports more wildlife than any other native tree - around 2,300 species!
Growth and size
Mature height: 20-40m.
Supplied as 20-50cm cell-grown saplings.
Can be planted all year round with proper care.
Value to wildlife
Food plant of purple hairstreak butterflies.
Leaf mould supports fungi and invertebrates such as stag beetles.
Bats and birds such as pied flycatcher and marsh tit nest in holes and crevices.
Soil and conditions
Tolerates most well-drained soils.
Avoid waterlogged sites.
