On the first day of Cropredy I noticed a young man gardener planting trees behind my tent and behind a fence.
He was too far away to conversate but we gave each other a nodding glance.
I would never have thought of planting hedging in August. Perhaps they were in plant pots and you can plant any time of year if they are? I suspect though they came bare rooted.
These are usually much cheaper to buy and are planted in the dormant season from late September.
The lad planted a staggered hedge and placed plastic tubes over them to protect them from being ring barked by grazing animals like deer and livestock or an over enthusiastic strimming operative?
Then he mulched the hedging with generous amounts of old grass mowing clippings to mulch the ground, feed the plants, supress weeds and help retain moisture.
It rained briefly one night and the hedging seemed to have settled in fine and none the worse for their planting ordeal. I suppose the lad will water the trees when it doesn't rain? Not that we have that problem in the verdant Emerald Isle!
It's good to observe gardeners and see what planting methods they use isn't it?
I shall mention the grass clippings mulch to P. We have a couple of new trees to plant this autumn, if they survive the summer storms.
ReplyDeleteBark also works JayCee. It's about four Euros a bag in Lidl or Aldi. GZ would recommend sheep wool clippings. I spend a lot of time clearing grass around trees it chokes them. You can also place cardboard around them and cover them in not fresh grass mowing or bark.
ReplyDeleteSo far with us I could plant bare rooted plants anytime...our problem would be being too wet....
ReplyDeleteYes GZ we often have the same problem.😄 Willow or any member of the Salix family or Cornus/ Dogwood don't mind having their roots in water. We do live in a very wet climate compared to people in the south of England.
ReplyDeleteYou should have sidled over to the lad to give him some professional tips. What's the worst reaction he might have had? Possibly walloping you with his spade.
ReplyDeleteProbably YP? Us soil slaves have mutual respect. I would be amiable enough to talk to a scarecrow if it spoke to me.
ReplyDeleteMy father was a staunch believer in using lawn mowings for mulching, using them on his blackcurrant and gooseberry plants. Certainly the blackcurrants thrived, we always had bumper crops and my mother used them to make blackcurrant drink that my brother and I had every morning throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteGreat garden memories Will. Anything organic can be repurposed in the garden.
DeleteThere's me thinking the festival goers were planting trees to off-set their festival excesses....imagine festival organizers including a tree-planting off-set......you could supply them with hedging plants
ReplyDeleteYes TM. I would garden for free festival food. The vendors prices are ridiculously expensive at music festivals.
DeleteYou've got gardening im-planted deep inside. Even at a rock concert you notice the flora around you. Your summing up of the situation says it all. Mr Progrock Green Thumb... Grin
ReplyDeleteYes I am a gardening anorak Linda. I can't leave it alone.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised you didn't make your way to him, and grab a spade, talking garden talk and planting hedges.
ReplyDeleteGood thinking Debby but there was a fence in between us and he was a good distance from me.
ReplyDelete