The Sanctuary

In 2009, we grasped the nettle (literally) and had been busy dealing with the front hedge. Originally it consisted of an earth bank, with a tangled mix of overgrown blackthorne and ash, all covered in a large portion of ivy, with lots of nettle in any available space.

The problems we had to deal with were:

• the ivy covered everything
• the ash was over 8m in places, and starting to block out the evening light
• the earth bank was crumbling and soil was sliding down onto the public footpath, restricting its width
• we didn't want to make people walk in the road
• shoveling away the loose soil on the path left a steeper bank, which in turn encouraged even more soil to crumble and fall, thus exposing more roots, etc

The Sanctuary Ground Force team springs into action.

• Task 1: We started in February, before a new-year's growth started, with some drastic action, reducing the height of the hedge to 2m.
• Task 2: Improvements to the post & rail and wire mesh fencing. We got some new posts from HoneyStreet Saw Mill, and reposted the posts higher in the bank, instead of 1m inside it. This has made the hedge much easier to prune.
• Task 3: Into March, and more pruning. This time, to clear out a lot of the old overgrown hawthorne bushes. Trusting on local experts, we're pruning hard, to encourage new growth at lower levels. By this stage, some trees and bushes are looking like dead stumps.
• Task 4: April, and just time to get some new bare-root plants, before the growing season starts. We had a look at the suggestions on the Communities Gov site, and the hedge selector table. We chose a mix of Blackthorne, Dog Rose, Dogwood, Guelder and Rose Wayfarer from Mill Farm Trees At the moment, they are planted in a nursery bed, so they can build up some root growth while we carry on.
• Task 5: May, It's Time To Stop The Bank Collapsing. We did think of writing to the EMF and telling them "Our bank is collapsing, can we have a few billion pounds?" Instead, it's another trip to HoneyStreet, this time for 12ft-long split rails. Nicely fastened to new posts, stacked in four-high sections, they are now holding back the front bank, The front looks much better, and has given us a good space to back-fill with fresh earth and compost, ready for the new hedging.