Purple Beech hedge plants

Purple Beech hedge (Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea') description

The fast growing Purple Beech (also known as Copper Beech) is a delightful and hardy hedging plant native to the UK.  Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ features mid-sized spring foliage of coppery-brown leaves that transform into a dark purple in summer, then a rich yellow in autumn – a hedge plant of beauty in all seasons! Purple Beech hedge plants thrive in sun or partial shade and all soil types (apart from exceptionally wet) are suitable for planting.

Popular uses for Copper Beech hedges

There’s no doubt one main attraction of Purple Beech hedging is its decorative beauty that changes with the seasons, but that’s not all it has to offer: Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ is a robust species that intertwines with other species next to it, forming a very effective security barrier hedge. Check out our full Beech hedging range to create your perfect solution.

Combine Purple beech hedging with

The colour and species combination of Purple Beech and Common Green Beech make for an interesting and hardy hedge plant.

Growth rate of a Purple Beech hedge

Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ is a fast growing hedge plant, at an annual rate of 30–60cm.  A minimal-fuss hedge plant, Purple Beech is easily maintained at a height of 1 – 5 metres. 

Pruning and aftercare advice for Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea'

A generally low-maintenance hedge plant, you will be sure to see your Purple Beech hedge plant flourish best in winter by clipping it in late summer or early autumn. Apart from that, regular checks for and removal of any damaged shoots or signs of disease are recommended to keep Purple Beech in tip top shape. View our Hedging Care Advice page for further information.

Planting density guidelines for Purple Beech hedge plants

We’ve compiled a useful guide to planting density, for full recommendations of planting Fagus Sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ please view the product table (density information is in the No. Per Metre column). You can also find help on planting in our planting density information section.

Available all year-round, our Purple Beech hedge plants are available in pots, as cell grown plants or instant hedging (grown in troughs). Bare root Copper Beech hedging plants are also available from November to spring (April/May).

At best4hedging quality is key, so we ensure our Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ plants are sourced from the very best horticulturalists – the majority being UK specialists with a small amount from overseas professional growing partners. You can rely on us to provide the highest quality, freshest hedge plants directly from our Lancashire based nursery.

Delivery Cost

Free Delivery - The majority of orders over the minimum order values shown below are delivered FREE to UK Mainland.
(Exceptions apply - see Delivery Areas)

Pallet Deliveries

Some plants are too heavy or too tall to be packed in cardboard box, in which case we use pallet deliveries. In these circumstances, we require a minimum order value of £170 (ex VAT) for free delivery, or you can make a contribution towards the delivery cost. Look out for the information on product pages which explains this further where applicable and if your order is for less than £170 (ex VAT) please call us on 01257 494 491 or email us to agree upon a delivery contribution. This requirement only applies to those plants where it is clearly indicated on the product page.

Pallet deliveries are always undertaken on an 18-tonne vehicle (similar in size to a standard refuse vehicle). If for any reason you require a smaller vehicle please contact our sales team who can arrange this for you. There will be an additional surcharge applied for small vehicle deliveries

Delivery Areas

EU & NI - As of 1st January 2021, we are no longer delivering to Republic Of Ireland or anywhere else within the EU. Currently, we can no longer deliver to Northern Ireland also.

Scottish Highlands & Islands - Most deliveries to the Scottish Highlands & Islands incur an additional charge. We classify this as including AB (Aberdeen) and DD (Dundee) postcodes, all Scottish Islands, as well as the Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Isle of Man. The exact delivery cost is order specific and will need to be quoted by a member of our Sales Enquiries & Advice Team, so please contact us on 01257 494 491

Protected Zones - Some of the species of plants we sell cannot be shipped outside of the UK Mainland under any circumstance, in accordance with regulations set out by DEFRA. Protected Zones we cannot deliver these plants to include all of the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Jethou, Lihou, Burhou, Alderney & Ortac), Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, France, Ireland.

Currently, this includes any plants or packs containing plants from the following genera:

• Amelanchier
• Cotoneaster
• Crataegus
• Malus
• Pyracantha
• Sorbus

Delivery Timescales

99% of our orders are dispatched within 7 to 10 days of receipt and most the day after the order is placed. We can do “next day delivery” on many of our products for an additional £12 (incl VAT) but please call on 01257 494 491 before placing your order to check.

We can also deliver on a specified date to suit you. Please indicate the date you would like to receive delivery in the notes section of the checkout (or place your order by phone) and we’ll do our utmost to meet that date.

Occasional hiccups can occur (such as broken down vehicles) and although we are very experienced in logistics we cannot be held liable for costs incurred or inconvenience due to late deliveries - see terms and conditions for more information.

You will receive an email or telephone call confirming the dispatch of your order 24/48 hours before it arrives with you.

Exceptions to our quick turnaround timescale

Pre-orders - if you have placed an order that includes products on pre-order, then they will be dispatched to you as soon as they are available. If your order includes pre-order bare roots or root balls you will be notified once they are being dispatched (root balls from mid to late October and bare roots from early to mid-November).

Root Balls - lifting root balls involves the use of complex, heavy machinery, this lifting is carried out twice a week in the root ball season so we do still have a prompt turnaround timescale but if your order has just missed one lifting, it will be a few days before we lift again. We are always happy to confirm when we can deliver to you before you order. The benefit of this method of supplying root balls is that they are always fresh and therefore have a higher success rate than root balls that are stored out of the soil.

Weather conditions can affect dispatch - bare root and root ball plants are not lifted if the ground is too cold (it damages the roots) and the delivery of all plants can be affected if the water supply is frozen (because we water all plants before packing). Extremely hot weather can also be challenging, and occasionally we hold backorders for species that are particularly vulnerable. We ask our customers to be mindful of bank holidays when couriers are not active.

We'd like to stress that although there are exceptions, the vast majority of our orders are dispatched extremely quickly and we are proud of our logistics developed over many years of delivering plants to tens of thousands of customers.

Returns

We inspect plants carefully before dispatch but accept that very occasionally things may go wrong. You can return your plants (within 14 days) for a refund or replacement (we’ll help with the process of returning). If your plants arrived damaged then returns are free of charge. However, we ask that you inform us as soon as possible. If you’d like to return your plants because of a change of plan or if we do not agree that the plants are significantly damaged (the loss of a few leaves in transit or a loose pot on arrival, for example, wouldn't be harmful to the plants), then we may ask you to pay the full or partial return costs if you still wanted to return them. We’re very reasonable and always aim for complete satisfaction as demonstrated by our amazing Feefo customer reviews which can be viewed here.

Should you wish to return any products that you have over-bought, no longer require or purchased in error you will incur both a return cost (different charges for pallets and Boxes) and the original cost of delivery incurred by best4hedging. Please contact the Service team for charges and/or to organise a return. Plants will be subject to a quality control check from our Nursery upon return before any refund is authorised and processed.

Please note that in the case of damaged plants, if you have not notified us of a problem within 14 days of delivery, we consider you to have accepted the plants and best4hedging has no further liability for them should they fail. You can read more about our returns policy in our terms and conditions here.

You can buy with confidence from best4hedging.

We accept all major credit and debit cards. We have also partnered with PayPal to provide a further, secure payment option.

You can order online or over the phone by calling our dedicated Sales & Advice team. 

If you have any further questions in regards to payment, please do get in touch. You can read our Terms & Conditions here.

Call our Sales & Advice team on 01257 261 243

Email us at [email protected]