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Our Hedgerow Heroes pilot site one year on
The first of the Hedgerow Heroes planting days took place at the start of May 2024. One year on, the hawthorn hedgerow is thriving.
The team at St Mary’s Church, Goldington planted a hawthorn hedge as part of their Eco Church work, aiming to boost biodiversity on this urban site.
CPRE Bedfordshire picked the site as our pilot project because the hedgerow planting would support the work already being done to help the church grounds provide homes for a wide variety of wildlife.
We caught up with Colin Last, the church’s Environmental Officer, to find out how things have gone over the past year.
How is the hedgerow doing?
Last year we planted a 20-metre hedge. We planted 120 whips of mainly hawthorn. We’ve had a few failures but with planting spacing of six per metre the losses haven’t really been noticed. There were a couple of thin areas which we have filled in with the addition of just six new whips this March.
Our planting was undertaken at the beginning of May last year. It was late in the planting season when we finally started, and the whips were beginning to come into leaf. However, the plants were of good quality and the soil still moist from recent heavy rains.
How are you caring for the hedgerow?
We applied mulch around the whips and kept them weed free throughout the year. We had help from some of the children from our church at the initial planting stage, but also critically they helped to water the plants during a few dry spells over the summer.
All this care has nursed the trees over this crucial first year. Having survived one year and put down their roots we are well on the way to establishing our hedge. We will be doing more of the same in the second year – mulching, weeding, and watering in dry spells. In addition, we have pruned some of the overhanging branches of the nearby trees to allow more light onto the area.
What has been the impact of planting the hedgerow?
The hedge defines the boundary of our property. It links in with adjacent wild areas and provides a wildlife corridor. Nearby we have an eco pile of branches and deadwood, plus an area we manage for wild flowers. This area of our church grounds is being transformed from what was before mainly down to grass under a few semi-mature trees.
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