On 18/07/2011 09:05, Ragnar wrote:
wrote in message
.com...
Hello -

I've inherited responsibility for maintaining a couple of hundred metres
of
unkempt hedgerow in Devon. The hedge contains many different species, with
some of them being ferociously spiky.

(Hacked about a bit)

Your post suggests that you may have a historic hedge, as it contains 'many
differnt species'. If this is the case then it would be wrong to mistreat
it.
To find out how old the hedge is, select a 30 yard length and count the
species of hedging plants (ignore herbaceous plants and climbers such as dog
rose and honeysuckle). The number of species indicates the age of the hedge
in centuries. If the answer seems unlikely try a different 30 yard length.
If you do indeed have a historic hedge then your local council may know
someone who can give advice on how best to conserve it.
R.



I have always wondered about this statistical gem. Presumably, if one
has 3 species of hedge plant it means the hedge is 300 years old?

I have a lengthy pyracantha hedge (roughly 30yds, maybe a tad more)
which we planted shortly after moving here about 30 years ago. The
hedge now contains: Pyracantha, holly, oak, ash and privet; where the
extra 4 species were bird-sown. There is the occasional sycamore which
I weed out. I have 5 hedge plants well-established in my hedge, but it
is not 500 years old! If it is, I must be over 500 years old to have
planted it ... (checks mirror) ... I don't think so;~).

To borrow your expression, the answer does seem very unlikely. A
similar length of Pyracantha hedge has Pyracantha, ash and some sycamore
(where I can't reach to weed it out). We also planted this hedge, so it
is not 300 years old.

It seems to me there must be another way of measuring/qualifying an
ancient hedge. My hedge only indicates that we planted a single-species
hedge so much loved by birds that they dropped seed within it from a
previous meal. This pleases me no end :~)), but I'm still at a loss to
understand how the ancient hedge measuring statistic works. Have I
misconstrued something? (confesses to being officially blonde).


--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay