You may remember back in the autumn we talked about transplanting a hedgerow. This is probably our most ambitious planting task to date. Not in terms of the size of the project but in terms of success and failure. We will know in spring if the trees have survived the process. Even if they make spring they will probably face a long dry summer and then a total drenching in November. Feast and famine is not good for transplanted trees so we’ll see what happens. Also, the ground is covered in snow and ice. Well, this is actually the best possible scenario for this job. The covering means we do minimal damage to the ground and it also the most dormant state the trees will be in so we move them in a deep sleep.
The hedgerow we have transplanted are trees we originally planted around 4 years ago. It is a mix of Willow, Oak and Quickthorn. We uprooted the tees with a digger and moved them to the fence line that borders the adjacent farm. As yet we have not put this land in to organic conversion but that will take place once we have seeded the field. The plan is to use the field as a hay meadow. We didn’t quite have enough trees to complete the fence run so we will be buy some to complete this. If it works the benefit of a transplant of this nature is the effect of an instant hedge. The main benefit is that it provides a wildlife and habitat run joining up other hedgerows and woods. As soon as we put the trees in birds were all over them so it is working already. They were looking for food in the freshly dug earth. Probably a rare opportunity for them at this time of year. We cut the trees before transplant and that is what gives that very neat looking finish even though they have just been planted. You may also note two small apple trees that we moved too! We have no idea how this will work but we do have high hopes. Fingers crossed. The pictures were taken at the start of another snow blizzard first light in the morning so we apologise for the quality. We’ll keep you posted on progress. 
The Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group have an excellent pdf file on hedgerow planting and the benefits. There is a link at the end of this entry if you would like to see it. Our next task is to build a culvert to join two fields at the boundary so we can extend the off-road riding. Happy New Year to you all from everyone at Stone Circle Livery
http://www.fwag.org.uk/dr_media/fwag/TIS5_Hedgerow_planting-E2005_13-Jan-10.pdf
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