Tackling Hedges at West Beckham

We had 11 volunteers helping out at West Beckham Old Allotments. We all arrived to find Trevor mowing the paths and parking area, a testament to a still very mild Autumn keeping the grass growing well.

Trevor reminded us of the WBOA habitat management regime, with today being focused on hedge management. Part of the group selected a small area suitable to try ''super hedge laying''. This is a technique that has been trialled by the RSPB where you lay at an angle larger hedges (really small trees), rather than the more traditional-sized hedge laying. Only time will tell how successful this will be. The remainder of the group tackled some of the Hawthorn trees that are smothered in Ivy to attempt to keep a variety of species in our hedges on the site. We still have plenty of Ivy providing late season food for wildlife.

John Rea, 1st Dec 2022