Make a unique Jelly from Country Hedges & Wild Plants This recipe uses fruit commonly found in mixed hedges and wild plants (identify before eating them). Wild plums generally ripen around late summer, apples & crab apples generally ripen later, both can be found in quantity in time to mix with blackberries, and whatever else… Continue reading Hedgerow Jelly Recipe
Category: Hedges
Holly Hedge Revenge: A Tale of Revenge and Hedges
Peter Walker-Smith and Tersia Van Zyl were best of neighbours until bins and hedges drove them to war…
YoungWilders Hedgerow Project
No one likes a pedantic so-and-so who points out that planting country hedgerows, which are a feature exclusively of landscapes managed by mankind (mostly farmers) is by definition not a re-wilding project, it’s really a re-ruraling project. I, naturally, would never do that, any more than I would sulk over age precluding me from joining… Continue reading YoungWilders Hedgerow Project
Cutting Back Overgrown Elderflower in a Mixed Hedge
Elderflower, Sambucus nigra, inevitably finds its way into a country hedge sooner or later, and it’s far from unheard of to add it to the mix at planting time. It is suitable for growing as a hedge plant, and is desirable for its flowers and fruit that make elderflower cordial and elderberry syrup respectively. However,… Continue reading Cutting Back Overgrown Elderflower in a Mixed Hedge
Soft Edges in Urban Garden Design
Modern buildings and roads tend to create stark boundaries: all structure with no life Well-thought-out planting will soften these hard lines and corners, and bring them alive, like adding a great painting to an empty frame. In general, you want to employ a lot of evergreen shrubs and climbers that cover things up all year-round.… Continue reading Soft Edges in Urban Garden Design
How to Prune Trees VS Clipping Hedges
Pruning woody plants is a big part of a gardener’s life, and winter is when a lot of it gets done – especially after windy weather leaves some rough edges to tidy up. When we examine a typical branch, we can see that there are basically three ways one could cut it: So, a hedge… Continue reading How to Prune Trees VS Clipping Hedges
How to Propagate Hardwood Hedge Cuttings in Late Winter
Right now is an ideal time to try, when the soil is nice and damp and not-frozen.
July is Still a Nesting Month for Many Birds
We can all keep our eyes out for bird nests in our gardens’ hedgerows, shrubs, and trees: especially when trimming & pruning them! According to RSPB guidelines, the main months of birds nesting in the UK are March to August inclusive, so we always check thoroughly for nests before hacking back any of our shrubbery,… Continue reading July is Still a Nesting Month for Many Birds
Is It Too Late for Lavender? June 2023 Edition
It’s June, it’s 2023, that means one thing: Lavender, and above all, is it too late to plant it, now that I can see it flowering everywhere? Let’s get to the point promptly without prevaricating past this paragraph’s pre-penultimate punctuation mark: you absolutely can plant Lavender when it is flowering in June, and really all… Continue reading Is It Too Late for Lavender? June 2023 Edition
Many Layers of a Shrub Honeysuckle Hedge
This Lonicera nitida hedge in a local Somerset car park is a prime example of how good this hedge plant looks despite neglect! A good hedge is thick and bushy down to the base, which is easy to maintain in most cases by trimming at least once or twice a year.Years of neglect tend to… Continue reading Many Layers of a Shrub Honeysuckle Hedge