It is now Thursday morning, and all the bits are assembling for our major hedge-planting frenzy on Saturday. Two 1-tonne bags of compost arrived yesterday, and our 12 new beech hedge trees arrived an hour ago.
We have two of these - this one is posing in front of the place were the hedge extension will be planted, the other was unloaded further up the drive, out of the way for the next subproject...
The trees look fine - they must all be about 6-7 years old, and have good-size root-balls in moist soil, wrapped in sacking
Beech hedges are pretty tough - they are an iconic feature of the scenery in the Scottish Borders. These specimens are locally grown, which is a useful reassurance; it is not unknown in these days of online shopping for people to order young plants which grew up in (for example) Kent, and for some species the Scottish weather comes as a big shock
I'm hoping we can get away without staking these - they look pretty robust, but I'll be on stand-by on Saturday morning in case it is decided we need to get some stakes in a hurry!
Best of luck. So you will have, however briefly, an abattis on your glacis.
ReplyDeleteThank you - yes, I am beginning to understand why Vauban was in favour of hiring contract labourers to do the work. They, at least, would know one end of a shovel from the other.
DeleteHave fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray - I shall certainly be doing more watching than digging! Imagine Vauban up on the battlements, with telescope and servants, in his wig - that's what I have in mind. Occasional breaks for oysters and champagne - it's an arduous life.
DeleteTakes me back a few years... Beech hedge shouldn't need staking and would probably benefit from being planted at a 45 degree angle anyway - I'm basing it on hedge rather than trees! However, might be worth thinking about protecting them with some form of wire netting to protect them from wee beasties nibbling at them!
ReplyDeleteInteresting - thanks Rob. These plants are about 8 feet tall, so planting at 45 degrees would certainly entail stakes, and people might travel some distance to have a look. Did you work on hillforts?
DeleteNo, spent a year as a Field Officer with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. Mainly chopping down trees in Rockingham Forest but also working on hedges, ponds and building dry stone walls. Fun times.
DeleteAh - great stuff - a fine fellow.
DeleteI saw the thumbnail and thought 'that looks like heavy work' my poor back twinged at the very thought of it. Nice time of year for a bit of outdoor work though.
ReplyDeleteThese big bags of compost need to be placed carefully [out of the way and yet handy for the job - tricky]. The guy who delivered the two bags was great - he had a mid-size truck with a hydraulic crane - he could manoeuvre into tricky corners and place the bags with great precision. Excellent - looks like a fun job, though it might be lacking in intellectual challenge in the long run. It would be amusing to deliver big bags of compost to the wrong address, and block the drive etc.
DeleteI am pleased that you decided to post about the gardening 'project' Tony. It's one of those brilliant bits of nature that what look like dead plants in under-sized body bags, will sprout forth from their new buds. I pruned our bougainvillea plants to within mm of their lives late last year. It was a bit late really, but I did not want another summer with a bit of green at the top and lots of dead and crappy material below that—like an old fella with a poor haircut. I have watered them more than I usually would, and actively remove apices to encourage branching and they are lookin' good baby. *Next* summer we will have lovely bushy bougies which will provide beautiful shading to the verandah.
ReplyDeleteIt will be beaut to see these beeches (careful how you say that) in place in your next post.
Best regards, James
Matty the gardener is working away this morning with mattock and shovel, getting these beggars planted.
DeleteBushy bougies are just the thing. I'm proud to have a reader who uses the word "apices" - more of this, please.
Careful Tony, I may start talking about overcoming apical dominance! :)
DeleteI am just having a break from converting a strip of grass along our back fence into a flower bed...in blazing sunshine 20°c+. Might still be less strenuous than your weekend plans however!
ReplyDeleteGoing well here - the morning is beautiful, and the trench is proceeding nicely! I am doing the thoughtful bits, like mowing the back lawn.
DeleteYou are not doing this by halves are you? Two tonnes of compost is impressive!
ReplyDeleteMatt - it's even crazier than that - we took delivery of another 3 bags in the middle of February, for the general mulching work. I'm writing this reply after the subsequent post, and we currently have about ⅓ of a bag left from our one month total of 5 tonnes of compost. Over the same period, I've also taken about 2 builders' bags of moss out of the lawns, which now have to be fed and watered so that they can recover a little!
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