A group of first year students on the FdSc/BSc (Hons) Ecology and Conservation Management degree course spent a rather wet and windy day hedge planting on farmland managed by Sparsholt College at West Winterslow, Wiltshire.
The work was carried out as part of the College’s Agri-Environmental Stewardship agreement, under the supervision of Sparsholt Lecturer Matthew Norris-Hill, and involved trimming back the grass along the proposed line of the hedge before marking the new hedge line with string. This was followed by a very busy period of digging, planting, pushing in support stakes and wrapping spiral guards around the hedge plants to protect them from being nibbled by rabbits.
All in all, over 400 ‘whips’ were planted in two very neat rows, with a variety of species included to increase Wildlife value including hawthorn, blackthorn, spindle, oak, holly, dog rose and field maple, and as usual, the rain stopped and the sun came out just as the work was finished!
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