I'm developing a piece of waste land as a wildlife garden. I am planting a hedgerow on the long thin spit of land which runs behind a low wall by a footpath.
The photo was taken back in January before I cleared the land. The compost now comes up almost level with the wall.
Next week 70 native hedgerow bare root plants are arriving. I cleared the weeds from the long thin piece of ground where they are to go back in September. The ground was a nightmare; very stony/sandy and uneven. The council delivered a huge amount of compost two months ago and dumped it on the land - it must be at least 18 inches thick.
Can I plant the bare root plants straight into this? It was really impossible to break into the ground below without a pick axe.
I agree with obelixx about the hawthorn, it gives substance to a hedge, thickens it up without root invasion like blackthorn. I see it as the backbone of any native hedgerow. Spindle has lovely berries but is a bit all over the place, not very hedgy. Wild berberis is another good one, lovely autumn colours
Bryony and wild clematis are easily grown by sowing seeds taken from another hedgerow. Plenty of clematis seed (old man's beard) around still. That's another one to seed all over the garden but fairly easy to extract in the first year or so. In my experience elder is not too great in a hedge. It has a tendency to grow very fast, swamp other stuff, then die.
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I'm developing a piece of waste land as a wildlife garden. I am planting a hedgerow on the long thin spit of land which runs behind a low wall by a footpath.
The photo was taken back in January before I cleared the land. The compost now comes up almost level with the wall.
Next week 70 native hedgerow bare root plants are arriving. I cleared the weeds from the long thin piece of ground where they are to go back in September. The ground was a nightmare; very stony/sandy and uneven. The council delivered a huge amount of compost two months ago and dumped it on the land - it must be at least 18 inches thick.
Can I plant the bare root plants straight into this? It was really impossible to break into the ground below without a pick axe.
I agree with obelixx about the hawthorn, it gives substance to a hedge, thickens it up without root invasion like blackthorn. I see it as the backbone of any native hedgerow. Spindle has lovely berries but is a bit all over the place, not very hedgy. Wild berberis is another good one, lovely autumn colours
Bryony and wild clematis are easily grown by sowing seeds taken from another hedgerow. Plenty of clematis seed (old man's beard) around still. That's another one to seed all over the garden but fairly easy to extract in the first year or so. In my experience elder is not too great in a hedge. It has a tendency to grow very fast, swamp other stuff, then die.
In the sticks near Peterborough