https://nature-recovery-network.org/hedging-marathon-continues/
Hedging Marathon Continues
Overheard at a Plant Propagation Group lunch:
‘…Let them eat cake!’
(From a Crazy Plant Person ((CPP) in Imperative Mood)
‘OK, I will tee-up the NRN baking team’, -
…but, but , but… what about hedges?.
‘Let them plant hedges too!’
Whips sorted, bagged and loaded in barrows.
Curious Voice: ‘What's a hedge good for?’
CPP Airing Knowledge (AK): For millennia hedges have been used for keeping livestock in - or out - and also for demarcating property boundaries. In England from the 13th century onwards Common land was privatized by enclosing it with a hedge, so many of the veteran hedges are the physical legacy of controversial political decisions. Of course, as agricultural machinery evolved, larger fields were needed for efficiency and many old hedges were removed and continue to be removed, but Common lands do not return, private ownership remains.
...and so the Plantathon begins.
Planting, Swinford Meadows (Oxford Preservation Trust meadows - formerly arable ridge-and-furrow fields, now wildflower hay meadows in recovery)
Curious Voice contd.: ‘Yes I knew that! I meant, what are hedges good for, besides livestock and boundaries?'
CPP AK: ‘Oh, a few other things pop into mind, including (in alphabetic order) aesthetic appeal, air-quality improvement, carbon capture and storage, education, foraging, flood risk reduction, green energy, health and well-being, pest control, pollination, shelter and shade, soil conservation, water quality improvement, wildlife, and windbreaks.’ (ed. Technically these are known as ‘eco-system services’).
‘So we get all these eco-system services for just a day's work?’
‘Well, not exactly. You still have to maintain a hedge otherwise they become ‘relict’ – a neglected hedge that grows into a line of trees.’ (ed. The subtle point being made here is that well-maintained hedges potentially offer more eco-system services than a line of trees).
Note added in proof: In his survey of 100m of a veteran hedge in his Devon farm, Robert Wolton, author of ‘Hedges’, recorded an astonishing total of 2070 (visible) species of plants, fungi, and animals in the hedge. Most of the animals, of course, were insects. He believes he might have missed many more species due to their small size and/or samplng methods.
Laying the cardboard mulch.
Another Curious Voice: 'So what are the best species to plant for a hedge – yew? – box? -privet?’
(More AK): ‘Traditionally field hedges were pure hawthorn. In fact, you can tell the age of a veteran hedge from the number of different species in it, because as a rule-of-thumb, one new species is spontaneously added to an original hawthorn hedge every century.’
Interruption by Avid Birder: ‘…speaking of hawthorn, have you noticed the large numbers of winter migrants - field fare (Turdus pilarus) and red wing (Turdus iliacus) - feeding on the hawthorn berries this week?’ We’ve not seen so many for years – seems another good reason to plant more hedges?'
Covering carboard with willow wood chip. In time it all composts down and provides protection and nutrients for the growing whips.
CPP: 'We want max. poss. biodiversity, so we will plant a replica Saxon era hedge: hawthorn, blackthorn, crab apple, hazel, dog rose, field maple.
Gardener's World Fan: 'Monty Don says we should dig a big trench to plant the whips, and then mulch the plants and give them a good soak.'
CPP (authoratively): ‘From experience we have developed a very efficient hedging strategy: After slit-planting two lines of whips, we tuck cardboard around the whips and cover it with wood-chip’. This has proved to give maximum survival, even in a very dry summer. (ed. Sorry Monty, no trenching, no soaking, but yes to mulching)’.
(more ed.: Verily verily, NRN has a formidable history of hedge-planting due to its ‘Hedge-in-Time’ Project. It has refined a cunning technique, with tools to match, for ensuring maximum speed of planting with maximum survival, without using the Monty Don method, which involves digging a 1m wide, spade-deep trench etc…)
Cake-break.
Narrator: 'And so the long march of preparation began. Site surveyed. species decided, quantities calculated, whips ordered, delivered, divided into manageable amounts, bagged, so they did not dry out, then stacked in large barrows, cardboard collected, measuring ropes and sticks checked, spades and shovels counted out, wheelbarrow tyres pumped, branches from pollarded willow chipped and piled up near the planting site, bakes ordered, risks assessed, event widely advertised, route maps prepared, NRN notices strategically placed on the day, tables laid out, welcoming committees briefed, and and...'
...And it came to pass that on an overcast Sunday in early January Uncle Tom Cobley, CPPs and all (and Martin, with secateurs and spade), along with the A-team of the Oxford Conservation Volunteers, assembled on the Oxford Preservation Trust meadows at Swinford to plant a 350m hedge along the boundary with Swinford Farm.
Comment of Biased Observer: 'The physical activity did us all good, but being part of the community engagement with nature recovery, the cooperation, social interactions and multiple kindnesses did us even better.'
The Oxford Preservation Trust gave us the go-ahead to plant a hedge along their Swinford field boundary and the Campaign for the Preservation of Rural England generously provided a grant for the the 2000 whips we planted on Sunday. The Oxford Conservation Volunteers brought their enthusiasm and equipment to add hands and muscle. Our Grateful Thanks for all those on the scene and all those who behind the scenes who worked to make this hedge plantathon another NRN success story.
Aahh - the fun we all had - and we ate cake!
Finished section looking Very Neat & Tidy. The wood chip and cardboard mulch
Text by KACM.