Keeping up with the hedges

There has been quite a bit of hedge work along the canal this year by Stroud Valleys Project. An existing sycamore hedge has been infilled with new trees, as well as being trimmed to keep it growing thick. I helped to mulch the new hedge earlier in the year, but the existing sycamore had grown to around 10 foot.

We initially thought the hedge trimmer would be required, but it turned out that hand tools only worked best. Loppers and Silky saws were all that were needed.

The new shoots were cut and placed in the bottom of the hedge to create a habitat for glow worms and a dead hedge.

The conservation approach to cutting was to remove new growth off one side and the top only, leaving the growth on the other side for a year. This ensures that different ages of stem are present in the trees since certain insects seek out wood of different ages.

There was quite a few out today, so we finished the task early. It’s not often that habitat tasks ever really complete, but this is located in a public area so there wasn’t much else to work on.

So we had a leisurely lunch by the canal and disbanded early afternoon.