Arnold Hawthorn (Crataegus arnoldiana) with the protection of a new dead hedge
The world is full of doubt. My forest garden is full of dead hedges.
I came across the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists today, with a rather sombre article Faster than forecast, climate impacts trigger tipping points in the Earth system.
We are locked in to 2-3°C and we need political and economic system change to dramatically reduce carbon emissions.
Back at home, my forest garden is my therapy, I’m growing a range of crops and creating a host of habitat. Dead hedges are very handy in the early stages of a forest garden, as they provide shelter for young trees before planted windbreaks get established. They’re also a great home for many different invertebrates. And they somewhere to put all your prunings, brambles and dock roots.
Today, I was retrofitting a dead hedge for an Arnold Hawthorn. I was also doing some very late, emergency pruning on a Bramley apple. Yes, I know, very late. But better late than never, so now at least the apples won’t be breaking any too long branches. n