Hedging or tree
How to grow a hornbeam hedge
Carpinus betulus
Hornbeam is the hedge to plant where beech would fail: heavy clay, damp ground, cold exposed sites and frost hollows. Plant bare-root whips from November to March, three to the metre, in sun or part shade. It leafs a fortnight earlier than beech, has a ribbed, toothed leaf, and keeps most of its brown leaves through winter if it is clipped once in August.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to part shade
- Soil
- Most soils; including heavy, damp clay
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.5
- Water
- Moderate while establishing
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting a hornbeam hedge
WhenPlant bare-root Nov to Mar; clip Aug
Starting off
Plant bare-root whips Nov to Mar, soaking roots first and shortening stems by a third after planting; hornbeam transplants more reliably than beech and tolerates heavy wet clay. Propagate from seed collected Sep to Oct, sown outdoors in Nov and germinating in the second spring after two winters of cold. Mulch 5 cm and keep weed-free for 3 years.
Spacing and planting
A hornbeam tree reaches 15 to 25 m by 15 m; hedges are held at 1.5 to 4 m tall and 60 to 90 cm thick, and 'Fastigiata' makes a 10 m by 5 m formal tree. Plant bare-root whips 40 to 60 cm tall at 30 to 45 cm apart in a single row (3 per metre), or 45 cm apart in a staggered double row 40 cm apart, at the soil mark on the stem, 2 m from paths. Pleached trees are set 2 to 3 m apart. Not a container plant beyond a clipped cube for a few years in a 60 cm pot.
Varieties worth growing
- Common hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)
- The native species, for hedging and pleaching. Bare-root whips are cheap and establish more reliably than beech.
- 'Fastigiata'
- Flame-shaped tree that starts narrow and broadens to about 5 m with age. The usual choice for an avenue or a formal specimen.
- 'Frans Fontaine'
- Stays columnar as it ages, about 3 m wide, where 'Fastigiata' spreads. Better for a small garden or a narrow boundary.
- Pleached and stilted hornbeam
- Nursery-trained trees on a clear stem with a flat framework of branches, for screening above a fence. Costly, but they save five years of training.
A hornbeam hedge month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Plant bare-root whips in open weather. Tie in the laterals of pleached trees to their canes.
- February
Plant. Renovate an overgrown hedge, one face only this year.
- March
Finish bare-root planting. Light feed on hedges under three years old, then mulch.
- April
Leaves open early in the month, ahead of beech. Weed the hedge line.
- May
Optional light trim of young hedges late in the month, after checking for nests.
- June
Water new hedges in dry spells. Summer-prune the faces of pleached trees.
- July
Keep watering first and second year hedges.
- August
The one main clip of the year, when summer growth has stopped.
- September
Finish clipping early in the month. Collect seed from the winged clusters if you want to raise your own.
- October
Order whips. Dig the planting strip; on heavy clay fork the base of the trench rather than adding grit.
- November
Planting begins. Soak roots, plant at the soil mark and shorten each whip by a third. Sow seed outdoors.
- December
Plant in mild spells. Nothing else to do.
Feeding a hornbeam hedge
A light feeder that finds what it needs in clay. A small spring feed and a mulch for the first three years is the whole programme; established hedges need nothing.
Low, tougher than beech on wet or clay soils; a light spring feed.
Feeding plan
At planting, November to March
The label rate is 5 g per litre of root volume. A 40 to 60 cm whip has roughly half a litre of root, so 2.5 g per whip: about 8 g per metre at 3 whips per metre, dusted onto the damp roots. Once only.
March, years 1 to 3
70 g per metre run: the label's 100 g/m² over a strip 70 cm wide (100 x 0.7 = 70 g), scattered either side of the row.
March, after feeding
Garden compost
A 5 cm mulch over the strip. On heavy clay this matters more than the fertiliser, because it stops the surface capping and cracking in summer.
Year 4 onwards
Nothing
No feed. A pleached tree in a narrow bed can have the March feed every second year if growth is short.
Signs to watch
Pale yellow-green leaves and short growth
Nitrogen hunger on poor or compacted ground
Balanced feed at 70 g per metre run in Mar for the first 3 years and a 5 cm compost mulch
Older leaves yellow between the veins on light soil in Aug
Magnesium short
Epsom salts drench
Scorched leaf edges in Jul on a new hedge
Drought during establishment, not a deficiency
20 litres per metre weekly
Pests, diseases and problems
White powdery coating on the young leaves at the shoot tips in late summer
Powdery mildew, worst on soft regrowth after clipping in a dry spell
Water young hedges at the root in dry weather and mulch. On an established hedge ignore it; the leaves fall and the next year's growth comes clean.
Holes and ragged edges in the new leaves in April and May
Winter moth and other moth caterpillars
Leave them. They are a main food for nesting blue tits, and the hedge covers the damage with its June growth.
Sticky leaves with a black sooty film in summer
Aphids feeding on the undersides; sooty mould grows on the honeydew
Tolerate. Ladybirds and hoverflies catch up by July. Avoid high-nitrogen feeding, which makes the soft growth aphids prefer.
Dead twigs covered in small coral-pink pustules
Coral spot fungus, which enters through dead wood and ragged cuts
Cut back to healthy wood in dry weather and take the prunings away. Keep the August clip clean and do not leave dead stubs in the hedge.
Whips leaf in spring and then brown off in June of the first year
Drought before the roots have spread, often with grass competing up to the stems
Water 20 litres per metre weekly from May to August in the first two summers and keep a weed-free mulched strip 70 cm wide.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Clip once in Aug after the summer growth stops, which keeps the brown dead leaves through winter for screening; a second light clip in late May is optional. Taper the sides so the base stays furnished, and let the hedge gain 10 cm a year until final height. Hornbeam renovates reliably in Feb to Mar, one face at a time, cut back to within 15 cm of the main stems. Pleached trees are tied to a horizonta
Good to knowLike beech, but copes with heavier, wetter ground; clip in late summer.
Growing a hornbeam hedge in pots
Hornbeam will make a clipped cube or a short run of pleached trees in a 60 cm pot or a large trough for a few years, in loam-based compost such as John Innes No 3. It is thirsty in leaf and needs watering daily in summer, and it will need planting out or root-pruning within about five years. For a permanent hedge it belongs in the ground.
A hornbeam hedge: common questions
Is hornbeam better than beech for a hedge?
Hornbeam is better on heavy clay, damp ground and cold exposed sites; beech is better on light, chalky or free-draining soil. They look alike once clipped. Beech holds its winter leaves a little more completely, and hornbeam comes into leaf about two weeks earlier.
How fast does hornbeam grow?
About 30 to 60 cm a year once established, a little quicker than beech on heavy soil. From 60 cm whips expect a 1.8 m hedge in five to seven years.
Does hornbeam lose its leaves in winter?
Hornbeam is deciduous, but a hedge clipped in August keeps most of its dead brown leaves until spring. It sheds more of them than beech does in a windy winter, and an unclipped tree drops the lot in November.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.
- Carpinus betulus 'Frans Fontaine'RHS
- Pruning hedgesRHS
- Hedges: plantingRHS
- Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus)Woodland Trust