Reinstating Hedgerows

[openspaceman]

3 minutes ago, Baldbloke said:

We’ve loads of shrews up here, plus regular snow cover, and yet he didn’t bother with guards, and his losses from shrews were minimal.

I thought shrews were insectivorous so never saw them as a problem, it is bank voles (our commonest rodent I think) that will strip a young plant and they also love the shelter provided by a plastic tube.

[woody paul]

Spray off any vegetation before doing anything. Brake up ground if compacted or just do to give plant a better start. 

Edited October 16, 2021 by woody paul

[gary112]

20 minutes ago, Commando said:

I don't have a rabbit problem in the field as of now.. not seen any, few hares only. Other option is to leave em unguarded....

If you don.t have a rabbit problem now you will when you,ve planted,it attracts them in,but also if you have hares they tend to bite the plants off at the top of the guards.If your getting a grant on it they dont usually pay towards rabbit netting,only for cane and guards and they will want them used

[Commando]

17 minutes ago, gary112 said:

If you don.t have a rabbit problem now you will when you,ve planted,it attracts them in,but also if you have hares they tend to bite the plants off at the top of the guards.If your getting a grant on it they dont usually pay towards rabbit netting,only for cane and guards and they will want them used

The grant pays £11.90/metre for the actual hedgerow, then separate grant for the fencing at £4.90/metre/each side. No requirement for guarding that I can see (it does say guards must be removed once plants established) but definitely replacement of any failures. Im tempted to rabbit fence and lamp the rabbits/hares hard.  The guards and canes are a significant cost implication BUT having to replace a load of whips each year would be a bigger pizzer.

[Baldbloke]

I thought shrews were insectivorous so never saw them as a problem, it is bank voles (our commonest rodent I think) that will strip a young plant and they also love the shelter provided by a plastic tube.

Correct, my mistake.

[Stubby]

7 hours ago, gary112 said:

If you don.t have a rabbit problem now you will when you,ve planted,it attracts them in,but also if you have hares they tend to bite the plants off at the top of the guards.If your getting a grant on it they dont usually pay towards rabbit netting,only for cane and guards and they will want them used

When I was a keeper me and another bloke planted bare root hawthorn for bloody miles to reinstate . Deer and Hare gave it a bashing then some twat doing his yearly hedge flail rashered the frigging lot down to the ground . 

[gary112]

6 minutes ago, Stubby said:

When I was a keeper me and another bloke planted bare root hawthorn for bloody miles to reinstate . Deer and Hare gave it a bashing then some twat doing his yearly hedge flail rashered the frigging lot down to the ground . 

Yep that,s what the knobs do with flail trimmers

[Paul in the woods]

I've done a bit of planting and faced the hoards of critters wanting to eat them.

 

Firstly, at least in this part of Devon, spring seems to always have a long dry period so I'd strongly suggest getting the trees planted early in the season well before spring.

 

I hate spiral tree guards, I've got some that haven't been removed when they should and they merge in to the trees causing all sorts of damage. The ones I've used must be biodegradable but they become very brittle in a year or two and are very hard to remove without shards getting everywhere.

 

Funilly enough we have a very large field vole population (you can often see them running about) but I've not actually seen any vole damage to the trees I've planted. (We do have a large population of tawny owls and kestrels). I'd second the idea of posts to encourage them in, even the kestrels like to have a rest and survey the fields.

 

We also have a few hares, including a leveret that spent most of a summer in our fruit bed and apart from one branch he didn't cause any damage.

 

Deer on the other hand can be a real nuisance. Not just going along a row of trees and nibbling all the fresh shoots but the bucks freying. But even this can be variable, our current roe buck and doe do far less damage than previous ones.

[Stubby]

8 minutes ago, gary112 said:

Yep that,s what the knobs do with flail trimmers

Gary , I planted 2 Oak trees I had " reared " from acorns in pots  . They were about waist high . A total dicksplash with his tractor and flail sorted them out as well . !

Edited October 16, 2021 by Stubby

[gary112]

6 minutes ago, Stubby said:

Gary , I planted 2 Oak trees I had " reared " from acorns in pots  . They were about waist high . A total dicksplash with his tractor and flail sorted them out as well . !

Fu&&in idiots