home & Garden

Look locally over the garden gate with Lucie Giselle Ponsford

Hedges: who knew?

This month I wanted to talk about hedges – glamorous I know but we all have (love or loathe) a hedge in our gardens or near them!

How to best care for your hedge? Well if you haven’t already trimmed up your hedge now is the time to do so. There are two reasons to prune late summer. The first reason: Although domestic properties are not subject to DEFRA regulations, farmland is and the 1st of September is the first opportunity until March 1st for farmers to get out and cut their hedgerows. Why this late in the year? Well the nesting birds could, if the year has been hard, have a third clutch (What a lovely word, it evokes images of mothers clutching onto their brood. But in this instance it is from an old English word: ‘Clekken’ which means to hatch). This third attempt for birds to rear hatchling needs all the help we can give as the fledglings will be going through winter as much smaller birds. A two year rotation (pruning every other year) for native hedgerows, with berries that sustain through the winter is an extra boost to wildlife. You could consider this on internal hedges within your garden? However the ramble whipping branches that slap us from paths are less sociable to other local wildlife! The second reason: is plant biology, now is the time that energy is being stored, this is happening from the summer solstice but in earnest now as the season starts to change. Cutting from late summer till September will reduce rapid regrowth in the spring as there is less leaf factory available to store energy (you’ve cut it off!

With love, Lucie

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