Shrub, Hedge & Tree Planting West Sussex, Surrey & Hampshire

CHAS approved, Foremans Tree Specialists Ltd provide comprehensive shrub, hedge and tree planting services throughout the South-East of England, including Crawley, Chichester, Horsham, West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. 

We can help you to choose suitable specimens for your location, source quality stock, and of course, professional plant your chosen tree plant or shrub. 

Our knowledgeable arborists will also offer helpful aftercare advice to ensure a long and healthy life for your investment.

Choosing to plant a tree, hedge or shrub in your garden is a significant and long-lasting decision, select an unsuitable species or location, and you risk it dying or harming its surroundings. 

Foremans Tree Specialists Ltd has vast experience in all aspects of planting, so why not call upon our extensive knowledge to make sure you get it right and you’re happy with your purchase.  

There’s nothing worse than spending your hard-earned income on plants that are either unsuitable for their location, struggle to grow or may even die. We’ll happily guide you through the planting process from start to finish and can also tailor the services provided depending on your requirements. 

Furthermore, as your friendly local tree surgeons, we can offer ongoing care and maintenance plans to guarantee your outdoor space, garden, trees, hedges, and shrubs continue to look their best all year round. 

From routine hedge cutting and fruit tree pruning to large crown reductions, thinning and lifting, we do it all. 

Selecting suitable species and planning their locations

Selection and planning are vital to the planting process; we offer free consultations and site visits to assess the location, make suggestions and discuss your options. 

Before making any suggestions, we’ll consider many factors during the planned planting location assessment, including the soil type, surroundings, available light, and crosswinds. 

These considerations will ultimately determine whether your chosen trees, hedges or shrubs flourish or fail. We aim to provide you with all the information you need to make decisions you’ll be happy with for years to come. 

Sourcing the right trees, hedges and shrubs

Having planted countless trees in Horsham, West Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and across the south, we have built strong relationships with several premium tree suppliers and local nurseries. 

These tree nurseries stock the very best specimens with pricing suitable for most budgets. With our trusted suppliers’ network, we can source pretty much any species of any size, subject to availability. 

If you would like to do the sourcing yourself, we can also provide a planting only service.

Full shrub, hedge and tree planting services

Our comprehensive planting service handles the complete planting process from the kerbside arrival of your chosen specimens, right through to removing any spoil or debris required and everything in between. The planting process can be a lot more involved than most assume, and there’s much more to it than just digging a hole. 

Over the years Foreman’s Tree Specialists Ltd has learnt all the best tree planting methods, techniques and practices, enabling our team to complete hundreds of successful planting projects throughout the South-East. So whether it’s laurel hedging in Horsham or a semi-mature silver birch in Chichester, you can rest assured we have the equipment, tools and know-how to give your shrubs, hedges or plants the very best start possible. Our expert planting service includes:

• Marking/setting out of desired planting position (if required)
• Digging/excavation of a planting pit
• Offloading and transportation to the planting pit
• Placement of shrubs, hedges or trees in the planting pit
• Installation of a deep watering pipe (if needed)
• Backfill the hole. Depending on your requirements, we can use the original soil or additional topsoil mixed with compost and fertilisers
• Installation of stakes, ties and anchors (if needed)
• Watering (as necessary)
• Removal of excess dirt (if required)
• Aftercare advice: including a suggested watering and maintenance schedule

Our bespoke “Planting Only” service

If you are looking to save some money and are willing to cover some of the work yourself our ‘Planting Only” service may be of interest. This service is suitable for clients who wish to source plants themselves and take care of the excavation/digging process, but lack the equipment or expertise to unload, transport and plant them. 

Please note if you’re excavating the holes yourselves, it’s vital they are the correct sizes for the plants ordered. Furthermore, you should leave only the best topsoil next to the pits for backfilling. If we have to adjust the holes’ size or remove contaminants from the soil, this will delay our staff and add additional costs. If you have any questions regarding hole sizes or anything else, please contact us beforehand to streamline the planting process on the day.

Foremans Tree Specialists Ltd staff have experience handling trees of all shapes and sizes, utilising specialists equipment and techniques to ensure the safe and successful planting of your specimens. We pride ourselves on adapting and overcoming the difficulties that arise from even the most challenging site conditions. 

The best thing about the “Planting Only” service is it allows you to hire us to carry out individual elements and take care of the rest yourselves. For example; You may have the machinery dig the holes and unload/transport the plants, but you may lack the knowledge to locate them in the pits, stake and tie them. 

So whatever your requirements, you can rest assured Foremans Tree Specialists Ltd can help. We’re willing and able to work seamlessly with you, your staff or other contractors to complete the project together or get you to a point where you’re happy to take over.

Contact us today to discuss your next shrub, hedge or tree planting project, or more information on our bespoke planting services. 

We complete every planting project to the highest horticultural standard, using knowledgeable, and professional staff to guarantee total customer satisfaction time after time. 

To see just some of the great feedback Foremans Tree Specialists Ltd has received feel free to look at our Google, Checkatrade and Yell profiles or for examples of our work follow us on Facebook or Instagram. 

When is the best time to plant a tree UK?

When planting a new tree, hedge or shrub, it’s vital to get things right if you want them to live a long and healthy life. Things you should consider are root health, soil condition, the weather and aftercare.

Despite the rising popularity of planting in Spring, any professional gardener, tree surgeon, or horticulturalist would recommend Autumn as the best time to plant a tree in the UK. 

So why is Autumn the best time to plant trees UK?

There are many advantages of planting trees, hedging and shrubs in the Autumn months, some obvious, some less so. Foremans Tree Specialists Ltd have put together this handy guide to help you understand the importance and benefits of planting in Autumn.

• It’s generally easier to dig the ground in the autumn months. Over the last few years, we have had very mild Autumn and Winter weather conditions in the UK. The favourable conditions have resulted in minimal frost or snow and plenty of rain, so the soil will be moist and soft to dig.

• Shrubs, hedges and trees planted in the colder months are dormant, meaning they will require less maintenance, for example, watering and pruning. The declining temperature slows down the enzymes within the plants that drive biochemical reactions like photosynthesis. Combining this with shorter days means that trees refocus their energy into their roots instead of their leaves, which is perfect as you want your trees to establish themselves from the ground up.

• Hedges, shrubs and trees planted in the Autumn/Winter also benefit from residual warmth in the soil. Like the sea, the soil takes the time to warm up throughout the Spring/Summer, but then the entire winter to cool down. Therefore, if you plant in the Autumn/Winter, you will be planting in relatively warm soil conditions even if it’s cold above ground. Tree roots grow a little during the dormant period, mainly when the soil retains a little warmth. The resulting root growth means that by Spring, the tree is more established and can take up water and nutrients more efficiently. That said, it’s essential to avoid planting if the ground is frozen solid or exceptionally waterlogged.

• During the coldest months of the year, you can purchase root-balled plants. Root-balled plants are hedging, shrubs, and trees lifted straight from the ground and available to buy without pots. They come with a solid soil ball at the base and are ready for planting reasonably soon after delivery.

• You will find, root-balled plants are often considerably cheaper than containerised hedging, shrubs and trees. Root-balled plants in the colder months because once the weather warms up, the rootballs will dry out too rapidly unless planted in the ground. Hedging species tend to be the most popular root-balled plants as it makes them more cost-effective when purchased in large quantities. Leylandii, Thuja, Yews, Holly and Laurels are all commonly sold as root-balled hedging.

Everything we have covered above applies primarily to root-balled, pot grown and evergreen trees, which, as discussed, you should plant in October/November. 

Early planting is a lot less critical for deciduous trees, but they would indeed still reap all the same benefits. Early planting for deciduous trees would mean November, while the soil is still surprisingly warm. 

However, some species, such as Oak and Alder, may take longer to become dormant, so you should wait a little longer before planting commences.

Generally speaking, when hedging shrubs and trees are planted in the colder months, it means that by Spring/Early Summer, they will have benefited from the very best growing conditions and had an opportunity to establish their roots whilst dormant.