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Online Since 18th sept 1998 |
Welcome to ShrubsDirect.com. The National Retail Website of Grasslands Nursery LTD
A little about us...
A family business, Grasslands Nursery was established in 1984. Originally a wholesale nursery growing to supply landscapers and other nurseries. In the late 90's we started selling to the public offering the same great prices direct to local gardeners. In 1998 our website went live, with the same aim as our nursery, to bring great priced, top quality plants to the the rest of the country. Today you can buy a range of plants from us, professionally grown, cared for, picked and packed by our team of expert horticultralists on our 30 acre site.
Think of a Tree or Shrub that grows outside, any plant, no matter how obscure or how large, whether it be a hedging plant, perennial, ornamental shrub, climber, palm tree, conifer, topiary plant or tree fern, we probably grow it here and with plenty to choose from. |
That plant would be fresh from our own nursery, of the highest quality and the price would be half what you would expect to pay elsewhere. That is if you could find one somewhere else to compare the price with.
Check it out on this site we don't hide our prices.
The ShrubsDirect.com sale ends in:
What makes us different to so many other online shops?
- 100% genuine photos of our own stock on our nursery. No pictures of foreign nurseries or stately homes!
- No huge V.A.T. addition slipped on after you have spent several minutes entering your details.
- 100% secure online paymet system powered by RBS WorldPay.
- Orders over £200 are delivered free to 90% of the country. Some areas do cost a little more.
- No hidden delivery charges, any additional charges are made clear.
- You can visit and inspect our nursery 7 days a week, and choose from even more stock than is on the website. You will find us at: Grasslands Nursery, Free Green Lane, Lower Peover, Knutsford, Cheshire WA169QY. We would love to see you at the nursery. Planning a visit? Click here
- Real people at the end of the phone - 01565 722836 8:30am - 5:00pm [Monday-Friday]
- Email us your questions about our plants
- Delivery is usually made within 3 working days
- Automatic discount on any order over £450 placed online
- The best quality plants at wholesale prices, fresh from the nursery, of the biggest independent grower and retailer of plants in the North of England.
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Hedging Plants
We have one of the largest selections of hedging plants online. All our hedging plants, shrubs and other products are supplied fresh from our nursery in cheshire. All of our hedging plants and shrubs are cared for by our team of expert growers. Specialist techniques, state of the art technology and advanced irrigation ensure that our hedging plants and shrubs are of the upmost quality and best price. This is why ShrubsDirect.com is one of the largest retailers of hedging plants online and shrubs online.
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Buxus Hedging
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Buxus Hedging or Box Hedging
For a small, very slow growing evergreen hedge, pick Box. Box hedging has been the world over for making formal hedges to define borders. There are two types commonly grown for hedging. Buxus Sempervirens and Buxus Suffruticosa. Sempervirens is a faster growing form and makes a tight, dwarf hedge quite quickly. It grows about 2/3 inches/season and is known as common box. It can be grown as a hedge to any height or clipped to all sorts of shapes. Suffruticosa is the form always used as a border edging. It grows very, very slowly. So slowly, in fact, that most use the common box for edging as it can take years to reach one foot. Both forms have beautiful, luxuriantly glossy green, small round leaves, packed tightly. They can be bought in containers or bare rooted. Bare rooted being slower to establish as the shock of having all the soil shaken from their roots and being cut out of the ground, puts them back a season. Containerised are best and it will get you off to a flying start, with them hardly noticing being moved.
Clipping Box
I think no-one can not have heard it said many times by gardening experts that you trim your box on the longest day of the year. Truth is you can clip them any time you like, but better in summer and not on a very hot day. Use a sharp pair of shears and cut away. They are very rewarding and fun to trim especially the shapes.
Dislikes
Apart from dog urine and being careful not to treat them with lawn weed and feed, they will thrive in all positions and soils.
Feeding Box Hedging
Do not over do the food. Sprinkle some bone meal at the base of the plants in spring and again after their trim.
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Laurel Hedging
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Laurel Hedging or Prunus Hedging
The most commonly planted evergreen hedging there is. There are two main types of laurel commonly planted for hedging. The cherry laurel (Prunus Laurocerasus) and the Portuguese laurel (Prunus Lusitanica). Cherry laurel are the classic, big glossy leaved evergreen, seen everywhere. White flowers are followed by the big red cherry-like fruit in autumn. They are easy to grow and will put on about 12-16 inches of new growth each season. Portuguese laurel are much hardier and have a thinner and much darker green leaf. Hawthorne scented flower racemes have red turning black fruit in autumn. They also make a fabulous stand alone specimen and a hardy alternative to laurus noblis for pot planting. They grow a little slower than the cherry laurel and are, for some reason, not chosen enough for hedging.
Clipping Laurel
They are best clipped with a pair of sharp shears, but scale sometimes makes this un-practical. The problem with shears and hedge cutters is that it can spoil the look of those luxurious, glossy leaves, so after using these methods it is best to finish off by snipping out the leaves that have been cut through. It really just depends how fussy you are. Most just shear them in early autumn and turn a blind eye to the few tatty leaves.
Dislikes
Cherry laurels dislike being sat in waterlogged soil. Quite often they do not die, but instead sit looking miserable. If wet soil is a problem either pick something else or ramp up the planting bed to keep the roots up above the water table. This form of laurel is not happy in shallow chalky soil. You could pick the Portuguese laurel or dig out a trench of the chalky soil and incorporate a good helping of neutral soil.
Feeding laurels.
It is important to keep them growing if they have not reached the height required and, or, to maintain that beautiful green foliage. A generous feed of natural dung or pelleted chicken manure is recommended and best done in spring to really get them going for the season. Really this can be done any time and with any plant feed, but it is far easier to overdo the powdered artificial fertilizers. Always read the label or stick to the idiot proof aforementioned naturals.
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Thuja Hedging
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Thuja Hedging
There are only really two forms for hedging, thuja plicata atrovirens and occidentalis Emerald. For an evergreen conifer hedge or large screen there is none better than the former. They stand clipping very well and un-like leylandii can recover if you get a little ambitious with the cutter. When you brush the bright green foliage the scales release an enjoyable scent of cologne. If you need to plant between buildings in shade then they stand that as well. Thuja will grow about 45-60cm/year. The bright green new growth turns darker with age and bronzes in winter. Emerald grows slower and though more for a stand alone specimen conifer, it also makes a neat formal hedge.
Clipping Thuja hedging
Clip them once or twice a year with a hedge cutter of shears
Dislikes
Apart from standing in water they grow anywhere and all soils. Virtually trouble free.
Feeding Thujas
Give them plenty of organic fertilizer in early spring to get them to the height. Once they have reached your desired height leave them to fend for them selves.
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Privet
Hedging
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Privet Hedging or Ligustrum Hedging
Fast growing and semi-evergreen, privet makes a fantastic dense hedge. It has soft bright green or gold leaves and is the perfect choice for hedging where young children play or small gardens. It can be shaped or cut back as hard as you like. For smaller gardens it is ideal for keeping narrow and manageable. In a cold winter a lot of the leaves will fall, but in a mild winter it will keep them all. In summer small white flowers exuded a powerful perfume.
They grow rapidly at about 12 inches/year. You should plant them under a foot apart otherwise next doors cat, looking for the children’s sandpit, will be able to walk through for ever.
Clipping Privet hedging
You should clip them when ever they need it to keep them in shape, as when left they can soon grow large.
Dislikes
Privets are one of the few plants that are hard spoil as they will put up with nearly anything.
Feeding Privet
Give them a feed once a year in spring to keep them looking tip top. Any plant food is fine as long as you read the instructions
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Holly
Hedging
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Holly Hedging or Ilex Hedging.
If you can afford it, pick a holly for your hedge. They tick all the boxes when it comes to what you want a hedge for. They are evergreen and come in several colours of leaf and with or without prickles. They ooze class and style and put your property a cut above. Start with the biggest you can afford as they are quite slow to get up to 4 feet and if too small become rabbit fodder.
Once there, they take off quite fast. There is something deeply satisfying, watching a blackbird pluck off plump holly berries on a cold, frosty winter day. Hollies grow about 6-10 inches/year. The common green prickly English holly can not be sexed but when you plant a hedge you are certain to get some of each. The fancy coloured varieties are male or female and if you want berries
plant females with the odd male to fertilise them. If you are in an area where hollies are common, don’t worry about Mr Holly as
he is sure be around locally.
Clipping Holly Hedging
Clip in late summer with sharp shears.
Dislikes
Holly is easy to grow in any well drained soil.
Feeding Holly
A feed of pelleted chicken manure is recommended and best done in spring to really get them going for the season. Really this can be done any time and with any plant feed, but it is far easier to overdo the powdered artificial fertilizers. Always read the label or stick to the idiot proof aforementioned natural food.
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Leylandii Hedging
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Leylandii Hedging or Conifer Hedging
If you want an evergreen screen or privacy in a hurry, these are for you. You either love them or hate them, but there is no other form of hedging that will do the job as quick and economically. There are two branches to the family and they are variations of green or golden coloured. Golden leylandii grow 20% slower than green leylandii. Up to 90cm in one year is achievable with the green variety. They will grow huge left un-cut and will easily achieve 20 metres in 20 years. For smaller gardens pick the golden forms. Apart from the fact they are evergreen and green or gold, there is little more to say about them.
Things you might like to think about before buying leylandii.
If you are planting them close to a neighbour you should seek advice on whether you now need planning permission. There has been a lot of bad press about them and they are not for the small urban garden. They are for large sites where you need to hide something from view.
Clipping Leylandii
The speed of growth dictates that you need to cut them a couple of times per year to keep them bushy and to stop the need to cut them too hard. You should never cut them beyond the green foliage as once you get to the brown of the branches they will never re-grow from the wood. It is also important to keep anything temporary from making contact with the plant as this too will turn the plant brown where the foliage is covered. This includes allowing trash to grow under the base. Sharp shears or hedge cutter and go easy.
Dislikes
There is not really anything that really they dislike. They grow in all soils and most positions. If you have deep shade use Thujas. Apart from poor clipping they are trouble free.
Feeding Leylandii
Give them plenty of organic fertilizer in early spring to get them to the height. Once they have reached your desired height leave them to fend for them selves.
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Taxus Hedging
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Taxus Baccata Hedging or Yew Hedging
There is nothing more stately and quintessentially British than a yew hedge. There a several forms of Taxus but only really
Baccata are mass grown for evergreen hedging. They are a little slow growing, so buy as big as you can afford, but once established they make a perfect formal hedge. The foliage is a lovely dark green, very dense and the plant can be clipped to any shape of height. There is a flush of growth in spring and a second smaller flush in late summer. The new growth is much lighter green and matures to the darker green with age. In winter, and on the female bushes, the classic red, squidgy yew berries are an important winter feed for birds. These should be pointed out to small children as the seeds could make them ill if eaten.
Clipping Yew
Yew can be kept in check with a pair of shears or a hedge cutter and is best done on a cool day in summer between the two growth flushes.
Dislikes
They particularly do not like being stood in wet soil, so if you have wet ground and want to establish a yew hedge, sort the
drainage out first. Apart from that they are easy to get growing in all soils and situations.
Feeding Yew hedging
Give them plenty of organic fertilizer in early spring to get them to the height. Once they have reached your desired height a light feed of fish, blood and bone will keep them looking green. Any other general purpose plant food is fine, but always read the label and under feed rather than over feed.
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Pyracantha Hedging
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Pyracantha Hedging
If you need to stop a lion eating your livestock, plant pyracantha. There have been many burglars claiming damages from householders for using them to stop them getting in to their properties. They are viciously prickly, but particularly attractive.
In winter the whole plant becomes covered in bunches of jewel like berries that provide a mass of food for the birds. Whilst not completely evergreen they will hold onto most of their bright green leaves until spring, when it’s quite normal for them to suddenly cast off most of their old leaves as the new buds burst. Plant them close together and within a year or two they will be completely impenetrable.
Clipping Pyracantha
Trim them back immediately after flowering and again in late summer. Avoid cutting off the flower/fruiting clusters for the best
winter show.
Dislikes
They will grow anywhere, but in the full sun they will grow faster and fruit better.
Feeding Pyracantha
They have a tendency to fruit so hard that they stress themselves, so a good low nitrate autumn feed will set them up for the
fruit and then a feed again in spring.
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