We had always intended to extend the hedge to continue south and west from the bottom gate in OC1 down to the fishermen's gate, to form a continuous boundary. As
explained in this post in January, when scoping it out, we realised that we had a much bigger and more exciting project on our hands.
We're going to try and create some suitable habitat for dormice. Petra's dormice boxes are untenanted, probably because there isn't enough food or cover for dormice. The new hedge will provide additional food (berries, shoots etc), but the hazel needs to be taken in hand (coppiced and/or pollarded) to make it more productive. But first the holly needs to be tackled as it has badly overshadowed the area.
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| Shade from the holly makes everything grown tall and spindly |
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| This could be lovely |
Henri, Andy, Felix and friend came on the first Sunday in April to help do some holly bashing. Good progress was made, but there is a LOT of holly. This will be an ongoing project for the summer. An application has gone into Sussex Lund for a small grant to pay for the hedging and some additional hazel whips to extend the area.
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| Child labour enjoying a bonfire |
