TJC Hedgerow Project:
A Living Fence
Years ago, we received a copy of the book Hedgerow (pictured aboas a gift from a friend. It is a lovely book with beautiful illustrations that struck a chord deep within us and inspired us to think about creating hedgerows in our own gardens. Currently, we have standard fencing around our growing beds to exclude deer and other herbivorous animals which is effective, but ugly. Later this year we plan to act on our inspiration and embark on a new project: planting a hedgerow designed specifically for The Jeavons Center site along a segment of the existing fence, with the intent to achieve several objectives:
The hedge will be comprised of a few rows of large shrubs and small trees, planted on five-foot centers or less, which will act as vertical “living fence posts” in the design. Blackberry brambles will be planted in between these vertical elements and woven in-between and through them, acting almost like a barbed-wire fence. One of the advantages of the blackberry bramble is that thorny stems from previous years, while not living or providing fruit any longer, still act as a physical barrier, complete with sharp-hooked thorns. Using Hedgerow as an inspiration, EA Communications Director David Troxell used his extensive experience in landscape and garden design to plan our hedge. Plant material is now being sourced, and work is set to begin this fall installing the first section, with work being performed by our TJC Farmer-Teacher Trainer staff. To get them established, the new plantings will be irrigated by hand initially; when the rains start around October or November, we can let off of the supplemental irrigation. We hope to start double-digging in August. We are excited to keep you updated on the progress of this new project and can’t wait to taste our first hazelnuts!!
♥
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