Planning a Hedgerow

A very quick post tonight – the ‘settling in’ is taking a little longer that I planned. I know everyone understands how that is, when you move house. Today I discovered that my driveway is lined with crocuses (OK, croci for the purists) – enough to lift your heart.

One of the things I need to do is plan a hedgerow for the back of the house. Of course, I want it to be instant and consisting of all native Irish species. Like the Guelder Rose, above and below. Turns out, those two things are not compatible, so my plan is to plant a fast growing hedge, preferably evergreen and intersperse it with native Irish trees, which are mostly deciduous.

Fortunately, there’s a lot of helpful information available to anyone wanting to do this, on the Hedgerows Ireland website, and I will be following their advice as much as I can. I have a head start in that I have several Hazel trees – my feature photo today is the tiny scarlet female flowers that appear above the catkins on Hazel trees in the spring.

One of the trees I will be ordering is the spectacular Spindle – above is the fruit and below the autumn leaves. I only know of one wild tree near here and I visit it every year.

I am also planning a wildflower patch, like in my last place – take a look at these posts:

Lying In The Grass*

Weeds: A Matter of Perspective

One Acre

One Acre – One Year On

One Acre – Three Years On

One Acre – Four Years On

Every year in West Cork I start my wildflower posts when the Celandine comes out – well, it’s out in my garden already!

I’ll document my hedgerow as I progress.