They say you can tell the age of a hedge from the number of species it contains- one species for every hundred years- but I don't believe it. The hedge I've just been clipping contains at least four and I know for a fact that my parents planted it and therefore it's between forty and fifty years old.
The species are privet, holly, elder and bramble. I'm also seeing isolated examples of rose, hawthorn and maple. I imagine my parents will have planted privet- perhaps privet and holly- but everything else will inserted itself.
The bumble bees were very busy around it. I trust them and they trust me. I nearly cut one of them in half by mistake but missed by a wing-beat. Oops.
The species are privet, holly, elder and bramble. I'm also seeing isolated examples of rose, hawthorn and maple. I imagine my parents will have planted privet- perhaps privet and holly- but everything else will inserted itself.
The bumble bees were very busy around it. I trust them and they trust me. I nearly cut one of them in half by mistake but missed by a wing-beat. Oops.
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Date: 2019-06-13 12:12 pm (UTC)Some of our local hedgerows have at least twenty hedge species and they're certainly not two thousand years old, but they do have five of six lichens and could easily be five of six hundred years old.
I've been amazed by the number of bee species in Shropshire lanes!
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Date: 2019-06-13 12:15 pm (UTC)They're saying bumble bees are engdangered. Not round here they ain't!
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Date: 2019-06-13 09:29 pm (UTC)Bumble bees are such sweet creatures; they're very gentle and trusting. When we lived in Maryland and had a big garden, we routinely worked right alongside them with no problems, and enjoyed watching them.
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Date: 2019-06-14 07:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-06-14 09:17 pm (UTC)