Carpinus betulus

common hornbeam - hedging range

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: March
• Flower colour: vivid-green
• Other features: distinctive, grey, fluted bark
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
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  Vivid green catkins in March, followed by clusters of green fruit, and toothed mid-green leaves turning orange and gold in autumn. Hornbeam is an excellent native tree for a large garden. Pyramidal in shape, it tolerates wet, clay soils and responds well to pruning, making it perfect for training as a formal hedge.
  
  
• Garden care: To train as a central-leader standard remove all of the lateral branches on the lowest third of the main stem and shorten the laterals by half on the middle third, making angled cuts to an outward-facing bud. On the upper third remove only dead, diseased or damaged growth and crossing stems. It is essential though that any pruning is undertaken in late autumn or winter when they are fully dormant as the sap has a tendancy to 'bleed' if pruned at any other time of the year.