Five of us arrived at Formby early in glorious sunshine and although there were some dark clouds about we managed to stay dry all day.
We met up with rangers Al and Justin and headed out to the hedge laying worksite by the heathland on Larkhill Lane. We laid part of this hedge last year and since then local groups have done a lot more so we had to walk a bit further across the field to get to the worksite.
The rangers showed us the task:
We had all hedge laid before but it was good to have a refresher about where to cut and where to place the stakes. It’s amazing that all you need to leave is the layer of wood just under the bark and the tree will continue to grow. We split into to two groups and started either side of the gate.
The hedge was a mix of hawthorn, blackthorn and rose so we had lots of thorns to contend with. It was the first time I had laid rose and it was relatively easy, as the stems are quite small and the long bendy stems are easy to weave into the hedge. Once it has all grown up it will make a lovely barrier.
We had a coffee break with cake (orange sponge cake and chocolate brownies – some with added spice and chilli) and by lunchtime had finished the shorter section by the gate. Al’s time as a tree surgeon was coming in very handy when we pruned the standing tree at the end of the hedge.
After lunch we all went to work on the longer section and made good progress with tandem sawing demonstrations from Justin and Andy H.
By the end of the day we had laid quite a long section of hedge ...
Jenny
No comments:
Post a Comment