My new 20 meter hedge was delivered by the postman this morning. I was hoping that it would come in some sort of roll that I could just unfurl and prop up in the garden somehow, but no apparently i have to dig a load of holes. 20 meters worth in fact.
Which is annoying really as it’s snowing at the moment so not really hole digging weather. The hedge will have to stay in it’s box for now:
The hedge I’ve gone for is a mix of native shrubs – hawthorn, hazel, dogwood, blackthorn, and dog rose. The plan is to encircle my chicken run with it, hopefully eventually obscuring the rather ugly chicken wire and also providing food and housing for a wide range of wildlife.
Something I’ve been thinking about recently is how small decisions can add up to big consequences. Like my hedge. I could have easily gone with some generic evergreen hedging which would have looked fine and been completely serviceable. But with a little bit of thought about environmental factors i’m hopefully going to play a tiny little part in helping to support my local ecosystem.
It’s the same when choosing things like our next car or our energy supplier. By going with someone who provides green energy or choosing a more fuel efficient car we hopefully do a tiny bit towards lessening our damage to the earth.
Not that I believe that by using renewable energy and planting a native we somehow negates our entire enviromental footprint. The hughes household still does a significant amount of damage, and ultimately things are going to have to change dramatically if I want my great grandkids to grow up in a world that looks anything like this one.
But these little changes should never be thought of as insignificant either. They may be small steps forward, but at least they aren’t going backwards.
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Is that really a hedge? It doesn’t look like a hedge. But I love the the sound of the mix of plants you’re putting into it.
May it thrive and be filled with a suitably biodiverse crew of small creatures and minibeasts.
Well done for making the effort dan, especially with all the digging! Nice mix of native species, the birds will appreciate all the berries when it matures. Can’t beat sloe gin!