|
|
Discussion Forum
Started by farm-advice at 08 Apr 2011 1:26 PM. Topic has 2 replies.
  
|
|
Sort Posts:
|
|
|
|
 08 Apr 2011, 1:26 PM
|
farm-advice
Joined on 09 Nov 2005
Posts 473
|
Timing of hedgerow management and spring flowering
|
|
|
|
|
An ecologist has raised the idea that trimming hedges before the end of January increases the ability of hedgerows to form new shoots and flower buds for the coming spring than trimming in February. Does anyone have any knowledge of this?
Current best practice advice is normally to condense hedgerow management into January/February to protect nesting birds and retain the berry crop for wildlife to feed on through much of the winter.
|
|
|
|
|
Report
|
|
|
|
|
12 May 2011, 9:38 PM
|
mike.mcdowall
Joined on 03 Mar 2010
E.Lothian
Posts 29
|
Re: Timing of hedgerow management and spring flowering
|
|
|
|
|
|
I was forced to cut roadside hedges by the highway authority (on spurious safety grounds) in August a few years ago. Their original request was in June but I managed to persuade them to delay for nesting birds.
There is a lot of beech in these hedges. That species grew away much better the next spring than beech in other similar hedges we cut in December, followed fairly quickly by hard weather.
Mike, E.Lothian.
|
|
|
|
|
Report
|
|
|
|
|
16 May 2011, 6:36 PM
|
richardwinspear
Joined on 09 Nov 2005
Posts 131
|
Re: Timing of hedgerow management and spring flowering
|
|
|
|
|
|
I consulted the Hedgerows Habitat Action Plan group on this, and the consensus was that autumn trimming results in the sprouting of more new stems and flower buds than a February cut, but that bringing it forward to January would not make much difference. This does not necessarily mean an increase in the berry crop, though. A better option is still to move to a 2-3 year rotation, such that no more than 1/2 of the hedges are cut in any one year. This is a proven way of boosting flowering and the berry crop, and leaving at least a proportion of the trimming until the end of the winter means that wildlife can take advantage of the berry crop, too.
A good point raised by the group was to avoid being too prescriptive: in some areas it is not possible to work on land in late winter due to soil conditions, so rotational trimming might be more easy to adopt than precise timing of which months trimming can occur.
|
|
|
|
|
Report
|
|
|
|
|
|