How to apply hedge fertiliser
Updated: October 2026
You already have a tub or a bottle on the path, and the hedge is waiting. How to apply hedge fertiliser is a season, a place, and a rate you can read on that pack, not a handful guessed from last year, and not another brand’s grams copied across. This page stays on method. The [hedge fertiliser comparison](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/hedge-fertiliser) does not teach application. If you buy through a link on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You already have a tub or a bottle on the path, and the hedge is waiting.
You already have a tub or a bottle on the path, and the hedge is waiting. How to apply hedge fertiliser is a season, a place, and a rate you can read on that pack, not a handful guessed from last year, and not another brand’s grams copied across. This page stays on method. The hedge fertiliser comparison does not teach application. If you buy through a link on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Form | How to apply | Pack as printed | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  TOPBUXUS TOPBUXUS Health-Mix, 10 tablets | Tablets | 1 tablet in 1 litre, spray foliage, 10 m² | 10 tablets | 9.2 | about £24.95 | View offer |
| Preis-Tipp |  Westland Westland Growmore, 8 kg | Granules | Ready to use; no grams on the listing | 8 kg | 9.0 | about £16.95 | View offer |
| Alternative |  UKGROW UKGROW Hedge Boost, 5 L | Liquid | Dilute onto soil; field 1:5 | 5 litres | 7.8 | about £22.99 | View offer |
On this page
Season and place first
Dry organic feeds sit around February to March. Inorganic granules such as Growmore sit around March to April. Liquids belong while plants are growing. Avoid autumn feeding, including a September handful after a late trim. Granules go on the soil over the roots, then you hoe them in and water if the ground is dry. Liquids in this set are soil drenches, except the box tablet. The RHS adds granules only if the soil is poor or the hedge looks short of nutrients. Form and job sit on the hedge fertiliser buying guide. Keep granules out of drains and off frozen or waterlogged soil.
Granules around the roots
The Westland 8 kg listing does not print grams. According to the manufacturer, the brand page says 135 g per square metre for trees, shrubs, and borders. The RHS young-hedge figure is 70 g per square metre. Do not average them. Topline prints every 4–6 weeks from February to the end of October. Do not copy that calendar, or Westland’s 135 g, onto the other tub. Topline’s field is 20:20:20. In the Amazon reviews, one United Kingdom review says 7-7-7. LERAVA has no grams. A 10-metre run about 1 metre wide is about 10 square metres: roughly 1.35 kg at 135 g, or 700 g at 70 g.
Liquids and tablets stay on their own label
The UK GROW bottles say a few drops, with no measured dilution. Do not turn that into 10 ml because a Hedge Boost review mentioned 10 ml. Hedge Boost says dilute and apply to soil. The field is 1:5. In the Amazon reviews, one United Kingdom review quotes 10 ml per litre, or 20 ml for a thin hedge, and others say the dose was cut off. The product data does not reconcile them. If the label is blank, stop. TOPBUXUS is the foliar exception: one tablet in 1 litre, wait 10 minutes, spray 10 square metres of Buxus foliage. Do not spray Growmore, and do not drench the tablet into the soil. Which listing to open sits on best hedge fertiliser.
Stop if you cannot read a dose
Leave LERAVA shut if the instructions are not in English. The product data has no grams. A mixing field of 1:0:0 or 1:1:1 is not a rescue dose. Agriculture Act 1970 section 68 requires a statutory statement for prescribed fertilisers. Marketplace bullets are not that statement. After a late trim, mulch. Westland’s brand page also says 135 g per square metre in a planting hole. That clashes with the RHS rule. If the plants are still going into a trench, read fertiliser for a new hedge. Call a professional if a long hedge is dying in lengths, the ground slopes into a ditch, or a pet has eaten granules.
Common questions
When should I feed an established hedge in the UK?
If it needs a feed at all, use the RHS type windows: dry organic around February to March, inorganic granules around March to April, liquids while the hedge is growing. Avoid autumn. After a trim, mulch first and add granules only on poor or deficient plants. A green hedge in ordinary loam can skip the tub for the year.
Do I put granules on the soil or spray the leaves?
Granules go on the soil over the roots, then you work them in and water if it is dry. The liquids in this set are soil drenches. The only foliar product here is TOPBUXUS, and only for box. Do not spray Growmore, and do not treat Hedge Boost as a leaf feed.
How much Growmore per square metre — 70 g or 135 g?
Both figures exist and they are different jobs. The RHS young-hedge aftercare line is 70 g per square metre. The Westland brand page for established trees, shrubs, and borders is 135 g per square metre. The 8 kg listing does not print grams. Name the job, weigh the strip, and do not average the two numbers.
How do I dilute Hedge Boost if the bottle and the field disagree?
Use the figure on the bottle you hold. The product data has a 1:5 field and a review-quoted 10 ml per litre, or 20 ml for a thin hedge. They are not reconciled. If the label is missing or cut off, stop rather than invent a third rate. Do not copy a few drops from the UK GROW line onto this concentrate.
What do I do if the LERAVA instructions are not in English?
Do not guess. The product data has no grams per plant or per metre, and both United Kingdom reviews flag the language. Leave that tub unopened until you have an English rate from the maker, or switch to a pack that prints grams. Do not apply Westland’s 135 g to LERAVA.
Can I copy the Topline calendar onto Westland?
No. Topline prints every 4–6 weeks from February to the end of October. Westland’s brand page uses a similar window, but the Westland listing does not, and the gram rates are not shared. Each pack keeps its own calendar. Copying across is how a mixing-field clash becomes an overdose.
Should I feed after a trim in autumn?
No. Mulch after the cut. The RHS says avoid autumn feeding, and a tidy face is not evidence the roots are hungry. If the soil is poor, wait for the March to April granule window or the spring liquid window. A late handful does not replace a winter mulch.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the eight amazon.co.uk listings in the stored product files. A mixing-ratio field is not an NPK. The 7-7-7 line is the Westland brand page. TOPBUXUS is foliar nutrition, not a caterpillar killer. LERAVA's 310 figure is the listing star line, not 310 UK written reviews.
- RHS, Fertilisers: types and uses (retrieved October 2026)
- RHS, How to trim a hedge (retrieved October 2026)
- RHS, How to grow box (retrieved October 2026)
- RHS, Managing box blight (retrieved October 2026)
- RHS, Planting trees and shrubs (retrieved October 2026)
- Defra, box tree caterpillar factsheet (June 2024) (retrieved October 2026)
- Agriculture Act 1970, section 68 (retrieved October 2026)
- Westland Growmore (retrieved October 2026)