Our approach - we are guided by three main aims:

1. To provide for wildlife;

2. To be as sustainable as possible;

3. To provide high quality products and service.

Our location: Hedge and Habitat is based in a semi-rural location in Heath and Reach, a village in South Bedfordshire - the banner photos on this website (above) are images from around the village. We operate on a relatively small site, where we grow all stock ourselves on our nursery beds using organic principles. We have four nursery beds on our site, in addition to areas of meadow and woodland bounded by native hedgerow - all habitats that we planted when we first arrived in 2002, and now teaming with wildlife.

Propagation - We use a number of techniques in order to produce the majority of our plants ourselves - this includes seed collection and sowing in autumn, 'layering' of plants such as hazel, and softwood and hardwood cuttings. We grow on all saplings for at least a year before they are potted up. This approach means that we oversee the growing process from the start unlike other suppliers who merely import and re-sell plant stock.

Organic - We strongly believe in organic principles. We use our own produced organic compost made from garden waste, and we certainly don't use peat or any peat based products. Not only does the compost mulch add nutrients to the soil, it also helps to retain moisture and is a great habitat for invertebrates, whilst our compost heaps are home to a myriad of creatures, including a family of toads! In fact, we would so far as to suggest that all gardens should have a compost heap, such is their value as a wildlife habitat.

We support the complete abandonment of inorganic chemical substances in the soil. We use no insecticides, fungicides or herbicides.  Because we don't use artificial fertilisers, are plants grow 'harder' and slower, and so are less susceptible to damage by pests as they do not produce soft growth often associated with non-organic fertiliser.

Use of resources - We want to go further than just being 'organic' in our approach. We want Hedge and Habitat to have as light a touch as possible in terms of the amount of resources we use.  This means for example, using human power rather than mechanical/electrical power where possible. We therefore use a 'push-along' mower rather than an electrical or petrol driven mower to keep grass areas tidy, and we use shears rather than strummers or hedge trimmers. Not only does this keep our fitness levels high (!), but it also helps to develop a greater appreciation of the surroundings and the environment in which we work.

All watering is undertaken using rainwater only, collected into water butts from roof guttering. We certainly don't use drip pipes connected to the water mains. We prefer to use the traditional method of watering by hand using a watering can, which we feel is the most efficient method to accurately target water without wastage.  We provide all plants with a thorough soaking sparingly, rather than little and often - which often results in shallow roots and which are more prone to drying out (and therefore need more watering). 

Packaging - Too many products have far too much unnecessary packaging. Our trees and shrubs are dispatched in cardboard boxes with no coloured printing, that we encourage you to reuse, or, better still, use as a 'grow through' mulch around your newly planted trees and shrubs. The plants are packed with straw to keep the plants snug during transport, and to provide a further source of mulching. The plant pots we use are 'polypots' rather than typical pre-formed plastic pots. The polypots greatly cut down on packaging and bulk in transit from our suppliers, and also take up less storage space.