My little hedge ..

Day 350 #365DaysWild

Fruiting hedge blackberry 

Mixed native hedges are fantastic for wildlife. They give our countryside its distinctive appearance.

So, we planted a forty metre hedge two years ago consisting of:

• Hawthorn
• Holly
• Field maple
• Hazel
• Spindle
• Blackthorn
• Dog rose

Hedges that host blackberry, honeysuckle and rose are especially beautiful.

The new  hedge frames two sides of the orchard and will one day hide the mismatched and variably-sized fence panels our neighbours have inflicted on us.

Mixed native hedges are great for pollinators. They provide larval food for loads of insects.

They give cover and nest sites for birds and mammals.

Many native hedgerow plants go on to provide fruits, berries and nuts.

Douglas Boyed estimates that a 100-metre stretch of a single species hawthorn hedge is home to 21,000 moth caterpillars (±6,200). Vital food for songbird chicks, predatory invertebrates & parasitoids. 

Most of our little plants have put on new growth. Where there have been losses we’ve infilled with holly & hawthorn.

Imagine my trepidation then on Saturday when Bob and Bill came to view.

Let me explain….

Bob is a skilled hedge layer with a lifetime of practical, hands on experience shaping and laying hedges.

Bill is synonymous with farm hedges among his farming peers. What he doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing.

I showed them my little hedge. They stooped. Rubbed leaves. And approved!!

But then both agreed ‘Needs more N’.

‘Looks anaemic’.

So today, I dressed the little hedge with pelletised chicken manure. They’ve certainly now had a nitrogen (N) fix.

Now, let it grow!!

Bob is currently in his late seventies. I’ve booked him for my hedges first laying in twenty years…