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Fertiliser for a new hedge

Updated: October 2026

The bare-root bundle is on the lawn, the trench is open, and a leftover tub of Growmore looks like a kindness to the roots. Fertiliser for a new hedge is usually the wrong thing to put in that hole. The Royal Horticultural Society says do not apply fertiliser at planting. Mycorrhizal fungi and a general feed should not share the same trench, because phosphorus can suppress the fungi. This page is planting and aftercare, not a spring top-dress of an established run. The [hedge fertiliser comparison](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/hedge-fertiliser) ranks the eight listings. None of them is a planting pouch. If you buy through a link on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The bare-root bundle is on the lawn, the trench is open, and a leftover tub of Growmore looks like a kindness to the roots. Fertiliser for a new hedge is usually the wrong thing to put in that hole.

Our top picks

TOPBUXUS TOPBUXUS Health-Mix, 10 tablets

Best overall

TOPBUXUS TOPBUXUS Health-Mix, 10 tablets
9.2/10about £24.95
View offer
Westland Westland Growmore, 8 kg

Preis-Tipp

Westland Westland Growmore, 8 kg
9.0/10about £16.95
View offer
UKGROW UKGROW Hedge Boost, 5 L

Alternative

UKGROW UKGROW Hedge Boost, 5 L
7.8/10about £22.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.The trench is for roots, not a feed pit
  2. 2.Fungi and phosphate do not share the hole
  3. 3.Feed later, if the soil is poor
  4. 4.None of these listings is a planting product

The trench is for roots, not a feed pit

The trench is for roots. The RHS says do not apply fertiliser at planting, and do not put extra organic matter in the bottom of the hole. On poor soils you may sprinkle a mycorrhizal inoculant so it touches the roots. Hopes Grove, Best4Hedging, and Hedges Direct still offer bone meal at about 1 kg per 15 metres of single row, mixed through the backfill. That is a nursery habit, not a rate from this comparison, and not RHS method. Westland’s brand page says scatter 135 g per square metre into a planting hole. That does not cancel the RHS rule. Leave the granules out of the trench. Backfill with the soil you took out, heel in, water, and mulch about 7.5 cm. Form choice sits on the hedge fertiliser buying guide.

Fungi and phosphate do not share the hole

A Rootgrow-class inoculant has to touch the roots. Phosphorus in a general fertiliser or in bone meal can suppress the fungus. Gardeners’ World, Ashridge, and Hedging Plants Direct say do not use bone meal with mycorrhizal fungi. Vitax Tree & Shrub with mycorrhizal fungi, and the bone meal tubs named beside it, are not among the eight listings. A pack that sells nutrients and fungi together does not cancel the caution. Dogs and foxes dig surface meal. If you still buy bone meal elsewhere, do not leave a crust on top. Do not combine Rootgrow with Growmore in the same hole.
TOPBUXUS TOPBUXUS Health-Mix, 10 tablets

Testsieger

TOPBUXUS TOPBUXUS Health-Mix, 10 tablets
9.2/10about £24.95
View offer

Feed later, if the soil is poor

Aftercare is water for two years, a surface mulch, and a feed only if the soil is very poor, a season later. The RHS young-hedge figure is Growmore at 70 g per square metre, as a surface dressing, not a hole fill. How to spread those grams sits on how to apply hedge fertiliser, next to Westland’s 135 g shrub rate. If the new hedge yellows in the first spring on sand, mulch again, and only then open a general tub.

None of these listings is a planting product

The UK GROW bottles, Hedge Boost, Westland Growmore, Topline Grownmore, LERAVA, and TOPBUXUS are established-plant feeds or a box foliar tablet. Using them on planting day is a category error. A foliar tablet in a watering can is not a trench treatment. Call a professional if a new hedge is dying in lengths, if the trench slopes into a ditch, or if a pet has eaten meal or granules. A failed length is usually water, depth, or stock, not a missing fertiliser.

Common questions

Should I put Growmore or bone meal in the planting trench?
Not if you are following RHS planting trees and shrubs. Leave fertiliser out of the hole. Nurseries still sell bone meal at about 1 kg per 15 metres of single row, mixed through backfill. That is a trade habit, not a rate from a listing in this comparison, and it sits against the RHS rule. Westland’s 135 g-in-the-hole line is a brand instruction, not the method this page follows.
Can I use Rootgrow and a fertiliser in the same hole?
No. The inoculant needs contact with the roots. Phosphorus in a general fertiliser or in bone meal can suppress the fungus. Gardeners’ World and UK hedging suppliers say keep bone meal off a mycorrhizal planting. Choose fungi now, or a later top-dress, not both in one trench.
Why do hedge nurseries still sell bone meal for planting?
Because it is a long-standing backfill habit and it is easy to put on a till. Hopes Grove, Best4Hedging, and Hedges Direct still list it next to the plants. The same trade also sells Rootgrow, sometimes on the same invoice. Traditional and compatible are not the same thing. This comparison does not stock those products.
When can I feed a new hedge after planting?
A season later, and only if the soil is very poor. Water for two years and mulch about 7.5 cm. The RHS young-hedge aftercare figure is Growmore at 70 g per square metre, which is a surface dressing, not a hole fill. How to spread it sits on the how-to-apply page.
Is any product in this amazon.co.uk comparison a planting pouch?
No. Bone meal and Vitax Tree & Shrub with mycorrhizal fungi are not among the eight listings. Those listings are liquids, general granules, a photinia granule, and a box tablet. Do not treat any of them as a trench product.
What about Westland’s instruction to put 135 g per square metre in the hole?
It is a brand-page line for Growmore. The RHS says no fertiliser at planting. This page treats that as a clash, not as a reason to ignore the RHS. If you follow the 135 g hole dose, you are following Westland, against the planting guide used here.
How do I keep dogs off bone meal if I still buy it elsewhere?
Do not leave meal on the surface. Gardeners’ World and Hedges Direct warn that dogs and foxes dig it. Work it through backfill only if you have already decided to ignore the RHS no-feed rule, and keep pets off the open trench. The cleaner option is to skip meal, use a contact inoculant on poor soil, and feed next season only if the hedge is still hungry.

Related pages

Best hedge fertiliser

Hedge fertiliser for a box hedge

Hedge fertiliser

Hedge fertiliser buying guide: job, species and rate

How to apply hedge fertiliser: season, place and rate

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.

  1. RHS, Fertilisers: types and uses (retrieved October 2026)
  2. RHS, How to trim a hedge (retrieved October 2026)
  3. RHS, How to grow box (retrieved October 2026)
  4. RHS, Managing box blight (retrieved October 2026)
  5. RHS, Planting trees and shrubs (retrieved October 2026)
  6. Defra, box tree caterpillar factsheet (June 2024) (retrieved October 2026)
  7. Agriculture Act 1970, section 68 (retrieved October 2026)
  8. Westland Growmore (retrieved October 2026)