Tools

Blackthorn Prunus spinosa

Scrub / hedge

Suckers vigorously. Excellent nesting cover, and it will spread further than you expect.

Goat willow Salix caprea

Pioneer tree

Earliest reliable pollen source. Roots from cut stakes pushed straight into wet ground.

Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna

Scrub / hedge

The workhorse. Tolerates almost anything except waterlogging.

Sessile oak Quercus petraea

Canopy tree

Slow, long-lived, worth it. Better than pedunculate oak on thinner upland soils.

Field maple Acer campestre

Small tree

Underused. Good autumn structure and takes hedge management well.

Guelder rose Viburnum opulus

Shrub

Berries hold late into winter. Happiest in a damp hedge bottom.

Dog rose Rosa canina

Scrambler

Adds the messy middle layer that neat hedges lack.

Yellow rattle Rhinanthus minor

Meadow annual

Parasitises grasses and opens the sward. Needs autumn sowing onto bare-ish ground.

Hazel Corylus avellana

Shrub / coppice

Gives you your own stake and binder supply for hedgelaying within about seven years.

Alder Alnus glutinosa

Wet woodland

Fixes nitrogen and stabilises stream banks. Don't plant it on ground that dries out.

Common reed Phragmites australis

Wetland

Only where you genuinely want reedbed — it will take the whole margin given the chance.