Traditional Irish hedge

When we moved here and built the house the Council specified that we demolish the original Estate hedge & stone wall and plant an "indiginous, deciduous" Irish hedge. Needless to say we didn't heed them but retained the 150 year old one intact. At the back of the site there was nothing but sheep wire, erected by the farmer. I set about planting a traditional hedge with hawthorn 'slips' which like the clay soil we have here.

Interspersed with those are now several oaks and as many saplings as I could find, including hazel, elder, larch, beech (not strictly native) ash, alder, holly etc. This hedge is now about 10 years old and acts as a safe route for birds between the adjacent hedges. It also acts as a windbreak against the winter gales. I also planted multiple rows of alders (shown on right) to help mop up excess surface water and as a further windbreak. (Naturalist Dick Warner told me that alders have host organisms on their roots which "fix" nitrogen into the soil. He planted lots in his own garden in Kildare). I keep the alders lopped off at head height so they don't spoil the view. They have certainly helped drain the excess water off the site. Our chickens like to root around under the trees and they help keep down the weeds.

The original 'big house' estate fields had hedgerows with 'standards' or large trees. Remnants of these remain, mostly beech. Modern-day farmers prefer to use the less than picturesque old pallet or electric fence method to bridge any gaps. Whilst our garden is full of insects (and therefore the birds which feed on them), the surrounding fields are monoculture crops which have to be sprayed with pesticides and seeded with fertilizer. Our own soil was part of the field next to it and has just about recovered from the dubious care of these methods. The farmers blame the EC or supermakets for making them produce stuff cheaply. The old system of crop rotation which had worked well for around 5,000 years has been abandoned. The old hedgerows supported insects & birds which preyed on pests, but chemicals do that now.

A UK-based company has an excellent guide on their website: http://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Store.html

1st April 2010

Today and yesterday I planted 10 hazel, 5 Holm Oak (evergreen) and 5 Birch into my native hedge. They come as slips about 18" high in peat plugs which are kept in a refrigerated container at Coilte Nurseries, Ballintemple. €20 the lot. Great place to source native trees for hedging:

Coilte Nurseries supplies bare root plants in the dormant season. They mail them out to you if you can't collect. Here is their link: http://www.coilltenurseries.ie/



May 2010: The hedge is doing well and is now home to loads of insects. Apart from being an attractive windbreak, the hedge attracts insects & birds. (A few feet behind the hedge is a 30 acre monoculture field where you won't find an insect, bird or anything else living apart from the crop).