Planting a hedge: how many plants per metre, and what it costs

Most hedge plants go in at 2-4 plants per metre: Leyland cypress 2, cherry laurel and photinia 2.5 (40 cm apart), yew 3, hornbeam 3.5, privet and beech 4. The plants go in one row, 80 cm from the fence, in autumn or early spring. What the hedge costs depends most on the size of the plants: the table works it out at today's shop prices in your country, for the length of your own hedge.

Updated: October 24, 2026 · Data and prices from our plant database, worked out for your country. How our data is made

A newly planted hedge in front of a fence, along a taut string, evenly spaced — The plants go into the trench along a taut string, at even distances.

How many plants per metre?

The number comes from the plant's hedge spacing. Broad, large-leaved evergreens go further apart: cherry laurel and photinia 40 cm apart, 2.5 plants per metre, Leyland cypress 50 cm apart, 2 per metre. Smaller-leaved plants that widen more slowly need more: yew 3, hornbeam 3.5, privet and beech 4 plants per metre.

Most hedges stand in one row. A staggered double row (the two rows 30 cm apart) is worth it if the hedge should be thick or must fill in from the bottom quickly: hornbeam, beech and privet then take 5-6 plants per metre.

Most hedges stand in one row. A staggered double row fills in sooner and is thicker, but takes nearly twice as many plants.

The total is the length times the plants per metre, rounded up. A 20-metre cherry laurel hedge takes 50 plants, a hornbeam hedge of the same length 70.
Where the hedge runs up to the corner of a building or a gate, put a plant at the very end too: the corner is the thinnest point of a hedge.
Planting closer does not make it screen sooner, only costs more: plants set too close take the light from each other and go bare at the bottom.

What does a hedge cost?

The price depends on the number of plants and their size. A plant over a metre tall costs many times a small potted one of the same kind, but screens from the first summer. Enter the length of your hedge in the table below: it counts the plants and the price at today's shop prices in your country, the cheapest metre first.

Length of the hedge (m)

Leatherleaf viburnum

Evergreen

Plants per metre: 1.5 (67 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 15
Plants of the usual size: HUF 40,000
HUF 4,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Holly osmanthus

Evergreen

mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C · thorny

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 52,000
HUF 5,200 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Firethorn

Evergreen

thorny

Plants per metre: 3 (33 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 30
Plants of the usual size: HUF 57,000
HUF 5,700 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Western red cedar

Evergreen

cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · toxic

Plants per metre: 2 (50 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 20
Plants of the usual size: HUF 73,000
HUF 7,300 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 100,000
HUF 10,000 per metre

Photinia 'Red Robin'

Evergreen

mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 78,000
HUF 7,800 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 450,000
HUF 45,000 per metre

Leyland cypress

Evergreen

cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle

Plants per metre: 2 (50 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 20
Plants of the usual size: HUF 88,000
HUF 8,800 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 260,000
HUF 26,000 per metre

Rocky Mountain juniper

Evergreen

cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 91,000
HUF 9,100 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Laurustinus

Evergreen

mild-winter regions only, hardy to -12 °C

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 92,000
HUF 9,200 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Prague viburnum

Evergreen

Plants per metre: 2 (50 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 20
Plants of the usual size: HUF 99,000
HUF 9,900 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Japanese spindle

Evergreen

mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C

Plants per metre: 3 (33 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 30
Plants of the usual size: HUF 100,000
HUF 10,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Wintergreen barberry

Evergreen

thorny

Plants per metre: 3 (33 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 30
Plants of the usual size: HUF 100,000
HUF 10,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Robust clumping bamboo

Evergreen

mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C

Plants per metre: 1.5 (67 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 15
Plants of the usual size: HUF 100,000
HUF 10,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Cherry laurel 'Novita'

Evergreen

toxic

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 110,000
HUF 11,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 390,000
HUF 39,000 per metre

Wild privet

Semi-evergreen

toxic

Plants per metre: 4 (25 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 40
Plants of the usual size: HUF 120,000
HUF 12,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Ebbing's silverberry

Evergreen

mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C

Plants per metre: 2 (50 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 20
Plants of the usual size: HUF 120,000
HUF 12,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Cherry laurel

Evergreen

toxic

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 120,000
HUF 12,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 450,000
HUF 45,000 per metre

Rufa clumping bamboo

Evergreen

Plants per metre: 1.5 (67 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 15
Plants of the usual size: HUF 130,000
HUF 13,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Blue holly

Evergreen

toxic · thorny

Plants per metre: 3 (33 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 30
Plants of the usual size: HUF 140,000
HUF 14,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Oval-leaved privet

Semi-evergreen

toxic

Plants per metre: 4 (25 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 40
Plants of the usual size: HUF 140,000
HUF 14,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

English holly

Evergreen

toxic · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C · thorny

Plants per metre: 3 (33 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 30
Plants of the usual size: HUF 140,000
HUF 14,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Portugal laurel

Evergreen

toxic · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 150,000
HUF 15,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Red-tip photinia

Evergreen

mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C

Plants per metre: 2.5 (40 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 25
Plants of the usual size: HUF 150,000
HUF 15,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 700,000
HUF 70,000 per metre

Common yew

Evergreen

toxic

Plants per metre: 3 (33 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 30
Plants of the usual size: HUF 150,000
HUF 15,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 520,000
HUF 52,000 per metre

Anglo-Japanese yew

Evergreen

toxic

Plants per metre: 3 (33 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 30
Plants of the usual size: HUF 160,000
HUF 16,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 600,000
HUF 60,000 per metre

Fountain bamboo

Evergreen

Plants per metre: 1.5 (67 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 15
Plants of the usual size: HUF 160,000
HUF 16,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Columnar Lawson cypress

Evergreen

cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle

Plants per metre: 2 (50 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 20
Plants of the usual size: HUF 210,000
HUF 21,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 210,000
HUF 21,000 per metre

Arizona cypress

Evergreen

cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C

Plants per metre: 2 (50 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 20
Plants of the usual size: HUF 340,000
HUF 34,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 360,000
HUF 36,000 per metre

European hornbeam

Deciduous

Plants per metre: 3.5 (29 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 35
Plants of the usual size: HUF 620,000
HUF 62,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: HUF 520,000
HUF 52,000 per metre

European beech

Deciduous

Plants per metre: 4 (25 cm apart)
Plants for the whole length: 40
Plants of the usual size: HUF 780,000
HUF 78,000 per metre
Plants of 100-150 cm: no offer

Plant	Plants per metre	Plants for the whole length	Plants of the usual size	Plants of 100-150 cm
Leatherleaf viburnum Evergreen	1.5 67 cm apart	15	HUF 40,000 HUF 4,000 per metre	no offer
Holly osmanthus Evergreen mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C · thorny	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 52,000 HUF 5,200 per metre	no offer
Firethorn Evergreen thorny	3 33 cm apart	30	HUF 57,000 HUF 5,700 per metre	no offer
Western red cedar Evergreen cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · toxic	2 50 cm apart	20	HUF 73,000 HUF 7,300 per metre	HUF 100,000 HUF 10,000 per metre
Photinia 'Red Robin' Evergreen mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 78,000 HUF 7,800 per metre	HUF 450,000 HUF 45,000 per metre
Leyland cypress Evergreen cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle	2 50 cm apart	20	HUF 88,000 HUF 8,800 per metre	HUF 260,000 HUF 26,000 per metre
Rocky Mountain juniper Evergreen cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 91,000 HUF 9,100 per metre	no offer
Laurustinus Evergreen mild-winter regions only, hardy to -12 °C	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 92,000 HUF 9,200 per metre	no offer
Prague viburnum Evergreen	2 50 cm apart	20	HUF 99,000 HUF 9,900 per metre	no offer
Japanese spindle Evergreen mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C	3 33 cm apart	30	HUF 100,000 HUF 10,000 per metre	no offer
Wintergreen barberry Evergreen thorny	3 33 cm apart	30	HUF 100,000 HUF 10,000 per metre	no offer
Robust clumping bamboo Evergreen mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C	1.5 67 cm apart	15	HUF 100,000 HUF 10,000 per metre	no offer
Cherry laurel 'Novita' Evergreen toxic	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 110,000 HUF 11,000 per metre	HUF 390,000 HUF 39,000 per metre
Wild privet Semi-evergreen toxic	4 25 cm apart	40	HUF 120,000 HUF 12,000 per metre	no offer
Ebbing's silverberry Evergreen mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C	2 50 cm apart	20	HUF 120,000 HUF 12,000 per metre	no offer
Cherry laurel Evergreen toxic	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 120,000 HUF 12,000 per metre	HUF 450,000 HUF 45,000 per metre
Rufa clumping bamboo Evergreen	1.5 67 cm apart	15	HUF 130,000 HUF 13,000 per metre	no offer
Blue holly Evergreen toxic · thorny	3 33 cm apart	30	HUF 140,000 HUF 14,000 per metre	no offer
Oval-leaved privet Semi-evergreen toxic	4 25 cm apart	40	HUF 140,000 HUF 14,000 per metre	no offer
English holly Evergreen toxic · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C · thorny	3 33 cm apart	30	HUF 140,000 HUF 14,000 per metre	no offer
Portugal laurel Evergreen toxic · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 150,000 HUF 15,000 per metre	no offer
Red-tip photinia Evergreen mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C	2.5 40 cm apart	25	HUF 150,000 HUF 15,000 per metre	HUF 700,000 HUF 70,000 per metre
Common yew Evergreen toxic	3 33 cm apart	30	HUF 150,000 HUF 15,000 per metre	HUF 520,000 HUF 52,000 per metre
Anglo-Japanese yew Evergreen toxic	3 33 cm apart	30	HUF 160,000 HUF 16,000 per metre	HUF 600,000 HUF 60,000 per metre
Fountain bamboo Evergreen	1.5 67 cm apart	15	HUF 160,000 HUF 16,000 per metre	no offer
Columnar Lawson cypress Evergreen cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle	2 50 cm apart	20	HUF 210,000 HUF 21,000 per metre	HUF 210,000 HUF 21,000 per metre
Arizona cypress Evergreen cypress family, attacked by the jewel beetle · mild-winter regions only, hardy to -18 °C	2 50 cm apart	20	HUF 340,000 HUF 34,000 per metre	HUF 360,000 HUF 36,000 per metre
European hornbeam Deciduous	3.5 29 cm apart	35	HUF 620,000 HUF 62,000 per metre	HUF 520,000 HUF 52,000 per metre
European beech Deciduous	4 25 cm apart	40	HUF 780,000 HUF 78,000 per metre	no offer

“Plants of the usual size” is the typical price of the size shops sell most often (leaving out the large specimen sizes), mostly a plant of 30-80 cm. Where the online shops sell a plant mainly in large sizes, as many do with hornbeam and beech, this price is higher too. Where shops give the height, the table also shows the price of plants of 100-150 cm. The price is for the plants alone: soil improvement, mulch and delivery come on top.

The cheapest is a bare-root plant. Nurseries sell deciduous hedge plants (hornbeam, beech, privet, hawthorn) from November to March without soil, in bundles, for much less than in pots. The table does not show these, as online shops rarely sell them.

Where to plant: distance from the fence

Set the hedge row 80 cm from the fence. A clipped hedge is 50-60 cm wide, which leaves a 50 cm strip behind it from which the back can be clipped too. A hedge pushed up to the fence cannot be clipped at the back, goes bare and grows into the neighbour's garden.

Leave 40-50 cm in front of it as well for clipping, before the bed begins. Along a property line, local rules may limit the height of the hedge and its distance from the line; check them before planting.

The hedge stands 80 cm from the fence, so its back can be trimmed too. A 45 cm strip is left in front of it for trimming, so the border starts at 155 cm.

When to plant?

In autumn, from mid-September to early November: the soil is still warm, the plants root in before winter and start sooner in spring. This is the best time.
In early spring, from March to mid-April, if you missed the autumn. The first summer then needs more watering.
Plant bare-root deciduous plants only while they are dormant, from leaf fall to bud break, on a frost-free day.
A container plant can in principle go in all year, but not in a summer heatwave: for the first weeks it would need watering every day.

How to plant?

Stretch a string along the row and dig a trench: 40-50 cm wide and a spade deep, with the bottom loosened another spade deep. Planting in a trench is easier and more even than digging holes one by one.
Mix ripe compost into the soil you dug out. On heavy clay, water can stand at the bottom of the trench: yew and cherry laurel do not take waterlogging, so mix in sand or fine gravel there too.
Set the plants along the string, measured out with a tape, at even distances and as deep as they were in the pot. Soak the roots of bare-root plants for a few hours before planting.
Firm the soil around the plants and water them in well: 10-20 litres a plant. Then spread 5-7 cm of mulch along the row; it keeps the moisture in and holds weeds back.

The first two years: watering and clipping

A hedge is most vulnerable in its first two summers, when most plants are lost. In dry weather water deeply once a week, twice in a heatwave; rarely and a lot is better than a little every day. A drip line along the row is the least work.

Cut a deciduous hedge (hornbeam, beech, privet, hawthorn) back by a third after planting, privet even by half: it then branches from the base and fills in at the bottom. On evergreens (yew, cherry laurel, photinia) shape only the sides, and leave the top until it reaches the height you want.

Clip the hedge narrower at the top and wider at the bottom: the lower branches then get light too, and the hedge does not go bare. How often each plant needs clipping, and when the birds rule it out, is in the guide to fast-growing hedges.

Which hedge plant to choose?

If it must screen in winter too: an evergreen hedge plant; the longest-lived is yew, the most common cherry laurel.
If it should be cheap: privet, or bare-root hornbeam from a nursery in autumn. Clipped hornbeam keeps some of its dry leaves through the winter.
If it must screen quickly: the guide to fast-growing hedges shows how much each grows in a year and how many years it takes to reach 180 cm.
For shade, yew, cherry laurel, hornbeam and privet are right; the cypress family and photinia go bare there. Choose from these instead of thuja too: thuja and its relatives are dying off in large numbers because of the juniper jewel beetle.
Low edging hedges are in the low hedge plants list, all of them in hedge plants. Our garden planner also puts the hedge into the plan, 80 cm from the fence, at your country's prices.

A plan for your own garden

Upload a photo of your garden: the planner uses these rules to choose plants for your spot, with numbers, prices and a planting scheme.

Make a garden plan Plant finder

More guides

How to plan a garden, step by step A garden is best planned in six steps: survey the site (light, soil, water, winter), decide what you will use it for, set the framework that still shows in winter, then lay out the border in layers, tall at the back and low at the front. Choose plants so that something flowers from spring to autumn, and finally work out the number of plants and the cost from the planting distances. Our garden planner works by the same rules.

Fast-growing hedges: how much each grows in a year The fastest hedge plant is the Leyland cypress, growing about 90 cm a year, followed by cherry laurel 'Novita', firethorn and western red cedar at about 50 cm a year, then privet at 40 cm. How long a 180 cm hedge takes to screen depends more on the size of plant you buy: several years from small plants, one or two summers from large ones, but at many times the price per metre. The tables use the current shop prices in your country.

Ground cover plants against weeds: which goes where, and how many you need A ground cover keeps weeds out once it has closed up: until then, usually for two or three summers, it needs mulch and weeding. Under trees and in shade, lesser periwinkle, bigroot geranium, barrenwort, barren strawberry and Japanese spurge do best; in sunny, dry places stonecrops, thymes and creeping junipers. Most perennial ground covers take 9-18 plants per square metre. The tables work out what a square metre costs at today's shop prices in your country.

Building a rock garden: stone, soil and plants step by step A rock garden belongs on a sunny, gentle slope, in lean, free-draining soil: one third garden soil, one third coarse sand, one third crushed stone. Lay the stones, all of one kind, in layers leaning the same way and sunk a third to a half into the ground, so that about two fifths of the surface is stone. Four to six plants per square metre are enough: creeping junipers and grasses make the frame, and between them cushion perennials, stonecrops and thymes flower from March to October.

A perennial border that flowers all summer: plants, layout, numbers A perennial border flowers from spring to autumn when its backbone is long-flowering perennials that bloom from June to September (catmint, woodland sage, coneflower, yarrow, Russian sage, gaura), with bulbs around them for spring and Japanese anemone, sedum and asters for autumn. Plant in groups of 3-7, tall at the back, low at the front; on average you need 5-7 plants per square metre. The calendars show the hardy perennials for a sunny spot that shops in your country sell most widely, with the price per plant.