Sweet Briar (rosa rubiginosa)

• Native UK wild rose with dense, prickly growth ideal for impenetrable hedging or mixed wildlife hedges.
• Apple-scented foliage (especially after rain), single pink summer flowers, and bright orange-red hips that feed birds.
• Excellent for wildlife (bees, pollinators, birds, caterpillars); tough, fully hardy, tolerant of poor soils, chalk, coastal/exposed sites, and some shade.

• When: Bare-root from November–March when the ground is not frozen or waterlogged. 
• Where: Full sun preferred (tolerates partial shade); moist but well-drained soil (chalk, clay, loam or sand – avoid very wet ground).
• Spacing: 30–60 cm apart for hedging (single or staggered double row); wider (approx. 1–1.5 m) as a specimen shrub.
• How: Dig a hole large enough for roots to spread; improve soil with organic matter if needed; plant at the same depth as previously grown; water well and mulch. 
• Size: Typically reaches 2–3 m (up to 4 m) high and 1.5–2.5 m wide.
• Aftercare: Low-maintenance; trim hedges in winter; delay pruning until late winter to keep hips; mulch and feed in spring if desired.

Photo credit: Andrea Moro, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)