Wealden Times | WT163 | September 2015 | Education supplement inside

source of food for pollinators. And now, as autumn
approaches, we’ll have an ample supply of berries
and fruits and I guess there will be a bumper crop of
blackberries and sloes, elderberries, rosehips and wild
plums. Meanwhile meadow brown butterflies are making
the most of the bramble flowers that are still flowering.
On a management level, cutting your mixed hedges on
alternate years or on a three year cycle will give you two
and a half times more flowers than if you cut each year.
The alternative, if you feel the need to cut annually, is to
raise the height by a few inches each time. And the shape
of your hedge is important. Leaving a deep hedge base
and cutting each side of the hedge diagonally is preferable.
And rather like preparing the ground for any plant or tree,
a new hedgerow will benefit from good preparation. It
is rare now to see a hedge planted with a ditch on either
side but in ‘the good old days’ countrymen knew a thing
or two and that the ditch would benefit the hedge by
providing a damp microclimate as it retains moisture.
Two to three year old whips, bought bare rooted, and
planted when dormant, can be planted diagonally in a
couple of rows and it’s then possible to plant native trees
in the gaps between the rows to give the hedgerow added
height and interest. Give the hedge and the new trees a good
mulch or use mulch mats. Straw is a good material to use as
a mulch as long as it doesn’t touch the stem of the plant.
Wild strawberries in the Devon hedgerows
There’s such a variety of plant life in a native hedge and
a quick survey down the lane this morning has produced:
Ash, Fraxinus excelsior, which is fairly dominant in this area.
If left to its own devices, it would soon reach tree proportions
so maybe with the threat of ash-dieback disease it might
be an idea to let one or two more mature saplings grow up
through your hedgerows if you’re lucky enough to have any.
Field maple, Acer campestre, is a good shelter plant
and colours up beautifully in the autumn.
Dogwood, Cornus sanguinea, has berries that
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