Hedgerow planting- A day volunteering

Hedgerows are an essential part of the ecology of farm lands. They provide shelter, corridors for wildlife and an abundance of rich berry's and fruit in the autumn to sustain wildlife ahead of the coming winter. Sadly intensive farming methods, neglect and the replacement barbed wire fences as a more effective means of securing livestock, as well as the brutality they face from excessive strimming at the end of each season has resulted in a devastating loss of hedgerows in recent decades. I spent a day volunteering planting trees that will eventually re-establish into some productive hedgerows as part of ambitious long term project by one land owner to turn grazing pasture back to woodland for wildlife and for the people.

                                          

On arrival we were directed by signs laid out prior to our arrival, tree planting this way. Eventually a large tent came into view. Rob and his wife greeted us as we arrived at the project site dirrectly off a public right
of way route, Orton. The village of Orton, located directly south of Penrith, Cumbria is an island among a desert of cultivated grassland. Rob explained to us how the village with its gardens represent a heaven sanctuary for wildlife where for miles and miles there is nothing but sterile fields and broken boundary's. He talked to us about how his friends and tourists see the Lake District. "It's so lovely and green. Wow, it looks SO GREEN". "In fact", Rob continued to explain, "its not natural in the slightest". "There's one species and one species only on that field. The farmers have planted foreign Rye grass which has then been heavily fertilised. The number of species of insects it supports is none.". He then pointed out the difference between the colour of the field we stood in to the surrounding fields. It was clear to the whole group that the field we stood in was fairly neutral compared to the vibrant green fields around us that now stood out like sore thumbs in the landscape. "It took us a long time to return the grass to this back to the colour it is now." his wife pointed out. Fertilisers obviously last for a long time. So much for England being a green and pleasant land. What a sham! "It's amazing" said Rob "that you can step over the boundarys of areas protected for wildlife amidst all the agricultural land around here and instantly you can hear the sound of bird song filling the air. Step back out of these reserve boundary's however and its a different story.".

 (filling in gaps with hawthorn to improve the density of the hedgerow)

One of the hopes raised in the plans for this small slice of land in its infancy was that it may help a much publicised endearing creature. Red squirrels are found in the village Rob informed us. Its hoped that they will naturally find and colonise this woodland as an extension of their range. With no routes to move out of orton and expand the population in all directions due to extensive agriculture they are as marooned here.
The woodland will be open for all who wish to respectfully enjoy it. Rob doesn't believe in privatising land. "England is a very private place." he said. Essentially people should be able to have the freedom enjoy and explore the spaces around them. Only a number of days before us school children had been helping to plant trees. The vision for this wood is great and will benefit everyone provided the sheep stay on their own side of the fence! Smash and grab attempts by sheep who have found a hole in the fencing and infiltrated the wood have needed to have been booted back out again and gaps blocked up on the odd occasion. Sheep are extremely effective at stopping regeneration as they don't give anything a chance to grow and are not welcome full stop. In order to stop the sheep eating the saplings once we have finished planting on the outside perimeter of the hedgerow a fence needed to be erected. Saplings needed to be planted to improve the density of cover the hedgerow provided and also fill in any gaps so that the corridor remained unbroken.

In order to manage and maintain the existing hedgerow the large hawthorns that grew to dominate the rest of the hedge line during the time the hedge was left to its own devices completely unmanaged needed to be cut back. They then would not compete for resources with the rest of the hedge in the same way. I found it interesting as Rob talked us through the management of these hedgerows just why the larger hawthorns had been cut as pictured above. The reasoning is that by splitting the tree to become exposed the hawthorn should then regenerate lots of new shoots from these cuts. Enough of the rest of the tree remains in tact to the roots so that sap continues to flow to the rest of the branches. This will eventually help to yield large amounts of berry's thanks to this method.
 The woodland within the field the hedges surround has damson trees at its edges to encourage polinators and insects. This improves the rest of the woods diversity of wildlife and fruits are always important as a good resource for the creatures of the wood. Local experts in apple trees have also supplied some fine trees with the same linage as wild apple trees that would have grown in natural hedgerows. The whole project is about restoring the balance and by keeping predominantly native species of trees, insects birds and mammals that co-exist being interdependent on each other can hopefully be once more restored . There is a small section of nasty conifer woodland although they said they had planted yew and scots pine which are native so its not all bad, just a bit random. Bees, although drowsy as the warm spring weather was a touch too cold for them that day, have been situated in a hive placed within the woodland. The project seemed well under way.

The Team (some of them): What a happy bunch.

I hope more land owners will come to the fore in the coming years with ambitious ideas like Rob's in the hope of giving our countryside the breathing space it needs. There are always people willing to help those with vision and a pure heart.
If you would like to help next years tree planting season contact your local wildlife agency.
Here is a link to a recent inspirational idea that saw the planting of a million trees to commemorate the queens jubilee.
www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/jubilee-woods