Pollinators.ie - Hedgerow Management

Allow some of the mixed hedging to flower for pollinators

I’ve been reading a load of interesting information about pollinators this week. I have found the www.pollinators.ie website very informative where it goes into detail about the the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. The plan addresses pollinator decline and was officially launched in September 2015 in collaboration between The National Biodiversity Data Centre and the Heritage Council. 

  

All-Ireland Pollinator Plan

One third of our bee species are threatened with extinction from Ireland. This is because we have drastically reduced the amount of food (flowers) and safe nesting sites in our landscapes. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is about all of us, from farmers to local authorities, to schools, gardeners and businesses, coming together to try to create an Ireland where pollinators can survive and thrive. Buncrana has a lot of places on the interactive map on the website and the community gardens in Carndonagh are on there too. I’ve chosen a specific topic to highlight from their Resources pages which is something most of us, especially farmers can contribute to, the safe care of our hedgerows.

Hedgerows for Pollinators

What is pollination and why is it so important?

Pollination is a vital action in nature; it is the means by which plants fertilise each other in order to produce viable seed to keep the species going.

In some plants pollen is spread by wind, others require the actions of insects to transfer the pollen from the male to the female flower. These insects (honeybees, bumblebees, solitary bees, hoverflies and others) are known as pollinators.  In general trees and shrubs that produce blossom (whitethorn, blackthorn, cherry, crab apple, etc.) are insect pollinated and those that produce catkins (hazel, alder, birch, oak, poplar) are wind-pollinated. The exception is the ‘pussy’ willow which produces an insect pollinated catkin. The blossoming species are often the woodland-edge species and so are the ones most commonly found in hedgerows.

Pollinators are a link in the chain of living (eco) systems that enable life to continue on earth. 

Healthy ecosystems (and therefore healthy pollinator populations) are essential for sustainable agricultural production.

How do hedgerows support pollinators?

Good quality hedgerows provide the four essential needs of pollinators:

•Sources of pollen and nectar for food

•Places to breed

•Places to overwinter

•Corridors and pathways to travel across the landscape

Most agricultural crops that require pollinators only provide a food source for a few weeks – diverse hedgerows and flower-rich verges can provide food over a much longer period to fill the hungry gaps.

What makes a good quality hedgerow for pollinators?

Food Source

Trees, shrubs and wild flowers in hedgerows provide food throughout the season from spring to autumn. Dandelion, blackthorn and pussy willow are very valuable in the spring when little other food is available. Mature whitethorn provides a good source of food later in the spring, followed by elder. Later in the season ivy provides a critical food supply. 

Places to breed and overwinter

Open fields provide few opportunities for bumblebees to nest but hollows and holes in hedge banks along with tussocky grass in hedge margins are ideal. The hollow stems of dead brambles provide nesting and over-wintering sites for cavity nesting solitary bees. Hedgerows that have sandy, earth, or earth and stone banks provide ideal nesting and over-wintering sites for mining solitary bees, particularly if they are south facing.

Corridors

When moving between their nest and feeding sites most pollinators like to follow linear features like hedgerows which give them some protection from the wind and rain. Hedgerows and other linear landscape features in agricultural landscapes can increase the connectivity between otherwise isolated plant and pollinator populations so well-connected networks of hedgerows are important to increase pollinator movement and pollen transfer.  

Hedgerow Management

Hedgerow management for pollinators needs to be considered as part of the wider context of other management objectives – stock control, shelter, screening, etc.

New hedgerows for Pollinators

Planting a diverse range of species is key

Many common and uncommon hedgerow species will provide food for pollinators.  Some native hedgerow species that are insect-pollinated this can be affected by a number of factors such as local climate and altitude. Blackthorn, Wild Cherry, Crab apple, Rowan ,Whitebeam Spindle, Whitethorn/Hawthorn Guelder Rose and Elder are some of the more well known varieties.

Shrubs like gorse and climbers like wild rose, honeysuckle and brambles also provide food and habitat for pollinators.  Hedgerow species need to be suitable for their environment (soil and climate) and complementary to each other – in some situations some species can become dominant and push out less vigorous species. Try and select a suitable mix that will provide blossom throughout the season.  

Ensure good connectivity between hedgerows and other natural and semi-natural habitats

If you can link in your new hedge with other natural and semi-natural habitats in your area then this will make it easier for pollinators to get to and from your new hedge safely and will complement the general ecology of the area. Remember that areas of scrub are also important sources of food for pollinators.

The brochure continues with advice about connecting hedgerows and managing existing hedgerows  for pollinators stressing that over management of the hedgerows by advising about timing and repairing hedges. 

For more on the subject and other advice check out the Pollinators.ie website

Preservatives and Ripening Grass

 Ripening in the sun

My method of working in the garden usually consists of darting outside in between rain showers. That way I get a good indoor/outdoor balance. It was so dry for so long this month that every day was an outdoor day. 

We can relate to people in dryer climates that don’t need to look at the weather forecast before the washing goes out. As nice as it is I do find it quite unexciting and when I am in a queue I have very little to talk about to people. 

Working outside did get a bit relentless after the third week and as my bald patch was glowing red I took on an inside job to stay out of the heat.  For a while now I have been meaning to replace a wobbly floorboard in our back room. 

Just one wobbly board 

You know the story. One board turned to two then ten then all the floor came up. The joists looked a bit ropey too as they have been down there since the 1920’s, so they came up too. It’s amazing how the small room grew in size when I started to work on it. Skirting came off next and on it’s gone for nearly two weeks now. I do get moments of being completely overwhelmed as I know the floor removal could spread even further to the hallway. I’m just doing this room for now and hopefully as the rebuild goes on I will have a feeling of achievement.  

Oil or Varnish

I’m jumping forward to when the boards are down and think I might go for a Danish Oil finish. It is more flexible than the polyurethane varnishes and you can apply it with a cloth (after days of sanding which is a job to do). It hardens after soaking in the wood and if it’s not hard wearing enough it can be varnished over.

 Danish Oil can also be used on outside wood too although the wood I have to treat outdoors will need something with a bit more preservatives in it I think. I have the shed to do at some stage when the floor is done and this is untreated wood. 

I don’t tend to treat any pressure treated wood that’s used for either decking, fencing or raised beds as the wood is about as treated as you can get. Any product put on top of this is generally only for aesthetic purposes to either blend in with the garden or to hide the moss and algae. I do get a bit of criticism for saying this but I have yet to be proved wrong.  The wood is put into pressurized vats then soaked in the preservative until it penetrates to the centre of the wood. No amount of painting on a stain will do that.  A friend of mine has just put up a great fence and painted it green. It does look great and will blend in with the shrubbery once planted so it all depends on individual taste. I tend to go for the “Do Less” option.

There are eco friendly types of wood treatments you can get and also some creosote substitutes for the bits below ground. There are a few sound-alikes on the market such as Creocote and Creoseal which is like creosote with all of the carconegens taken out. I couldn’t find any reviews about the products at the moment as they are pretty new to the market and wood takes a good few years to rot. You do still get the familiar creosote smell from it. They should bottle that up as a deodorant, I’d buy it.

I’ve got the roof of the shed to recover with corrugated bitumen at some stage but as the rain is threatening I’ll leave that until next year.

Maturing Grass

Grasses are looking fantastic now. The hot, dry weather has really brought on the ripening of the seed heads and the long brown stems are waving gently in the breeze. There are so many great varieties of wild grasses - 10,000 at the last count. Many grasses are important crops (e.g. wheat and rice); they also feed many grazing animals.  There are some larger familiar ones in gardens like Stipa gigantea, miscanthus and pampas grass, but if you have a wildlife area put aside then some smaller grasses could be used. Blue fescues, harestail grass, cotton grass and common bent are all good choices. Look out for the Quaking Grass (Briza media) too as this is a great novelty grass with its shaking seed heads.

Plants for Hot Weather and Droughts

Isn’t the hot, dry weather excellent for getting around to all those odd jobs outside? 

I have put off painting our white wall for the last six years because there’s generally a risk of rain but could procrastinate no longer and my wall, like many others on our road has had a fresh coat.

I can imagine the paint manufacturers have seen very little or no sun for the last few weeks because they have been too busy mixing the exterior paint to cater for the demand.

I’ve also been making a new perennial bed for the ever growing plants I got earlier this year. Most of them have outgrown their 2 litre pots and were drying out on an hourly basis in the sun. I’ve put the plants quite close together into the bed as I’ll be moving a lot of them to a more permanent spot next year in the front garden. 

When I dug the holes for the plants I filled them up with water before putting the rootball in. This saved a lot of watering afterwards and there will be very little evaporation and hopefully I won’t really need to water them again before the rain comes. I have also put old broken clay pots and small upright bamboo poles in the gaps to hopefully keep the dogs from sitting on the plants which seems to be one of their favourite things to do in the hot weather. I have a clump of montbretia with a hole in the centre where they like to sit, as it must be a bit cooler in there for them in the shade.

Some larger containers of strawberries need quite a lot of attention too. We’re trying to save water so the butts are emptying fast and we are also putting the washing up water into the flower pots too to cut down the demand a little bit, they don’t seem to mind.  

I have a few tomato plants thriving in the tunnel. I also have a chilli pepper (f1 Apache) doing really well. I try and grow chillies every year but this is the best I have seen. I also have a sweet pepper plant (Redskin) doing really well with loads of peppers appearing. This year we got an aubergine plant to play with too (Black beauty) and that too is doing really well in the high humidity. The aubergines leaves are slightly hairy which helps retain moisture in hot dry weather.

Plants for Hot Weather

We are really grateful of plants that can tolerate dryness and the silver hairy varieties are perfect for this type of weather.  A lot of plants like this come from the Mediterranean where it might not rain for months. 

Aromatic silver-leafed plants, and those with pungent foliage, produce an oily film on their leaves that acts as a sunscreen while minimising water loss. Most develop deep root systems that penetrate metres into the ground allowing them to reach water reserves. Most flower in summer and their sugar-rich nectar pleases the bees.

Silver and grey leaves dominate this Mediterranean group because this colour absorbs less heat. Some silvery plants have finely divided leaves (like dianthus) and others develop a woolly surface like certain stachys. So if a plant has silver leaves that are either woolly or aromatic it will usually thrive in full sun. Lavender and rosemary are two examples. Most of their growing is done in winter so there’s no need to cut back until spring.

Other plants store water either in their leaves and stems. Succulents, house leeks (sempervivums) and sedums shrug off drought and never flag, thanks to their plump foliage. 

Some plants cope by developing long tap roots as a water-seeking device. Poppies, lupins, hollyhocks and lots of umbellifers rely on tapping into moisture underground.

If you are planting now add organic matter to the soil, water the hole and use mulches to retain moisture after planting. Hold off on any fertilizers to if possible as this can encourage too much lush growth which may flop in the summer sun, require extra watering, and be affected by frost in the winter.

Fruit

The warm weather has also produced an abundance of sweet peas. If you pick them regularly they produce even more, in much the same way that mange tout do, twice a day we’re getting a bowl full of the sweet pods.  It’s been an excellent few weeks for fruit production too with the strawberries, currants and raspberries all fully ladened ready for a daily pick.

All The Leaves Are Brown - But Not For Long

  

Baked chamomile on their own individual wrappers

I had a ‘chamomile crisis’ last week.  Only a few days before the heatwave I moved about 500 plug grown chamomile plants into the polytunnel to give them a boost as it was a bit chilly. I took my eye off them for a while and the result was cooked plants, totally shriveled root and leaves.  Growing in small cells does make the plants very susceptible to temperatures both hot and cold.  The trays were on a large table raised from the ground so there was no cooling earth to save them so they all cooked in their own small 3cm square ovens. 

I did have some other plants on the ground and they survived.  In this case the plants perished purely because of the heat and not a lack of water as they were kept constantly wet and it was the outside edge plants that were hit first. It was probably like dropping the plants into a boiling kettle.

We can see the same thing happen on the edge of lawns where the grass meets the concrete paths and tarmac where the soil is generally shallow. Although in this week’s case it’ll also be because of a lack of water too. So how do we stop our lawns from going brown?  It’s not really something we here in Inishowen have to think about very often but this week was an exception.  

Some lawns are hit harder than others depending on a lot of factors. 

 

The lawn aspect - south facing will get more sun.

The soil type - sandy soil dries out a lot faster than a clay or loam soil.

A lot of us are seeing old regular patches of brown grass appearing on the lawns like unearthing an archaeological dig where old paving slabs have been covered up and grassed over. The brown areas show that the sandy soil under the slabs don’t hold as much moisture as the loamy soil surrounding it.

The type of grass seed being used for the lawn.

Rye grass will go brown really quickly but others such as Tall fescue(recommended about 70% in the mix), red fescue and deep rooted meadow grass will be a lot more resistant to scorching and keep green even under trees.

Drainage and the lack of watering.

A mature lawn could need as much as 2.5 to 4 cm of water a week to keep the colour and on large lawns this would mean emptying the reservoir.

The overuse of fertilizers as we overcompensate to try and bring back a bit of colour. 

Any form of feeding will only damage the grass even more as a lot of these chemicals require water as an activator.

Other patches can be caused by dog wee as it’s not washed away and children playing. These will be brown patches for now but if the dryness persists the area will become a bare patch which might need a bit of care to restore. These patches can be reseeded when the weather cools or you could move sods from other areas of the garden where they won’t be missed.

Preventing damage

The two main factors for lawn damage in the summer are heat and dryness so the simplest solution is to water when you can trying to keep a bit of consistency by not letting the grass totally dry out (hosepipe bans permitting), resist the temptation to feed with any type of nitrogen fixers and if you must cut the grass (some of us just can’t help it) then set the mower to a really tall cut. The tall grass will retain moisture better, hold in some cool air and cause less stress than scalping would cause. 

New turf

New turf hasn’t had a chance for the roots to penetrate deeply into the ground so will be very susceptible to drying out. It’s a real balance as too much water would cause the roots to remain shallow and stay near the surface and too little will see the sods dying really quickly.  Hopefully if you do have a newly laid turf lawn you will be able to water it often .

Preparing good drainage and a humus rich soil on both a turf and seeded lawn will save a lot of hassle down the line as the grass will be able to cope with all our weather conditions and generally do away with the need to feed the grass.

Don’t despair though if your landscape has turned yellow and brown. The grass will soon recover as I’m sure as you are reading this there will be a few drops of rain hitting the window. Living in Ireland really does make me realise that water is our best friend in the garden and it’d be a scorched, dusty place without it.