Green Beech / Fagus Sylvatica Description

One of the most enchanting features of the green beech hedge is its striking foliage. In spring, fresh leaves unfurl in delicate, translucent shades of green, creating a soft and inviting atmosphere. As summer arrives, the leaves deepen into a rich emerald hue, providing a lush backdrop to any landscape. Autumn, however, is when the beech hedge truly shines. The leaves transform into a breath-taking palette of copper and gold, infusing the garden with warmth and splendour.

Beyond its aesthetic allure, Fagus sylvatica boasts practical benefits that make it a cherished hedging option. Its dense growth and intricate branching structure create an effective screen, ensuring privacy and seclusion for outdoor spaces. Furthermore, its tolerance for regular pruning allows gardeners to sculpt the hedge into various shapes, from classic rectangular forms to intricate topiaries, adding an artistic touch to the landscape.

Green Beech is an excellent choice for a formal, native hedge tolerant of exposed conditions. For soils prone to drought or heavy clay, waterlogged soils, Hornbeam hedges are a more suitable alternative.

Types of Green Beech Hedging grown and supplied by Hedging UK

We grow Green Beech hedging plants on our nursey in 2 different ways.  We grow them as individual rootballed hedging plants available at around 150-180cm. These plants are freshly lifted to order in the Autumn through to Early Spring. Rootballed plants are lifted with a special machine that lifts the roots from the ground with a ball of soil. This ball it tightly wrapped in hessian or jute to hold the ball together for planting. Rootballed plants are a cost-effective option but do have a higher chance of failure compared to potted plants as the roots have been chopped in order to lift them. We also grow Green Beech as an Instant hedge in 90L troughs each measuring 1 metre in length. Available at different heights throughout the year. Each trough contains a specific number of plants that have been grown together in a pot with the roots interwoven and the tops trimmed to form into a hedge. The instant hedges are sold as a block of hedge 1 metre wide, meaning that if your hedge is to be 10 metres long then you require 10 instant hedges.

Advantages of a Green Beech Hedge

• Has a moderate growth rate of 30-60cm per year making them easy to maintain.
• Leaves are retained throughout the Winter and turn an interesting copper colour, classing beech hedges as semi evergreen for providing some cover during the Winter months.
• Fresh new green foliage produced every Spring. With older copper coloured leave being replaced with fresh green foliage.
• Native hedging to the UK. Well suited to the UK climate and conditions.
• Wildlife Friendly: Beech hedges provide food and shelter for wildlife with edible nuts providing food and dense foliage providing protection from the elements and predators.
• Green Beech are suitably hardy for UK cold snaps being hardy down to around -15 degrees centigrade.
• Beech hedges are easy to maintain. Can be pruned with hedge trimmers and generally only require one trim / prune per year.

Beech Growing conditions and planting.

Green Beech grows well in most of the UK. It is best suited to moist but well drained soils and locations that receive full sun or partial shade. Beech do not like very wet soils and are not really suitable for coastal hedges as they dislike the salt spray in the wind. They also aren’t suitable for very dry or hot locations. If your soil is very sandy and often dries out in the Summer, you may wish to add compost or manure to the hole or trench when planting to help retain moisture. Adding mulch to the topsoil around the base of the plant, will help retain moisture. It will also regulate temperature and suppress weeds. Please refer to our advice on How to plant a hedge for more information.

Creating a Green Beech Hedge

When planting any hedge, including a Green Beech hedge, you should always research what the best location and growing conditions are for the plant, including soil suitability, preference to sun or shade and which in weather conditions the plants will thrive.  Also important to consider is the purpose of your hedge i.e. full screen, or low or tall hedge etc, as this will determine how far apart individual plants should be planted and crucially, how many plants you will need. These factors are fully explored in our Hedge Planting Guide and our Hedge Plant Spacing Advice pages.

Green Beech Growth rate

Green Beech is often considered a slow grower but given the right conditions and treatment a Beech hedge can grow at the moderate rate of approximately 30-60cm per year. Whilst Beech may be slower growing than other hedging plants, once the desired height of the Beech hedge is achieved, it will only require minimal maintenance to keep the hedge looking tidy.

Green Beech Maintenance

When it comes to care and maintenance, a Green Beech Hedge only requires regular watering and occasional clipping and pruning. Trimming can be done in late summer and the new seasons leaves will be retained into the Autumn and Winter. It is important to avoid over-pruning, as this can lead to bare patches within the hedge. More information on pruning can be found in our Beech Hedging Pruning and Maintenance Guide.

Green Beech Pests, diseases and problems

• Beech hedges prefer a rich, well-drained soil so poorly draining soils can lead to root rot. Avoid such issues by improving soil drainage or choosing another species such as Hornbeam if improving drainage is impractical.
• Woolly Beech Aphids. These sap sucking tiny insects can often be seen on the undersides of leaves from leaf emergence through to the Summer. They look like fluffy white clusters and are often sticky with honeydew. Woolly Aphids aren’t usually a problem for more mature Beech plants or established hedges. They can however be more damaging to younger Beech saplings such as small bare root plants. So, care should be taken to monitor for them and if detected treat with a recommended insecticide.
• Honey fungus is a common problem for plants in the UK and spreads underground through the soil, attacking the roots of plants. No plants are completely immune to this fungus and Beech Hedges can also unfortunately suffer. Honey fungus can be difficult to detect and would usually present with symptoms such as, paling of leaves, dead twigs and branches and premature autumn colouring. Underground the roots of the plants would appear dead and rotting and have a strong aroma of mushrooms.

For further information on Beech Hedging plants please refer to our Beech species guide

And our blog article on Green and Purple Beech Hedging Plants

Call Hedging UK Today

Here at Hedging UK we are known for being a friendly, family run business and specialist growers of quality hedging plants. All of our Green Beech Hedging plants are grown outside on our own nursery in Holmeswood, Lancashire, producing robust plants that are quick to establish. Our Beech hedge plants are available to purchase at wholesale prices across the UK through our mail order service. Our customers include Landscapers, Local Authorities, Garden Centres, Tree Surgeons, Schools and Private customers. Our experience in this market enables us to offer the best quality hedging plants with a price and service to match.

Our nursery is located in Holmeswood, Lancashire in the north west of England and is not open to the general public. Whilst the nursery is predominantly a mail order business, customers are welcome to come and see our range of hedging plants and purchase plants at the nursery, but please do so by appointment only, contact our team today.