Hedgerow Restoration
29th January, 2010
Visitors to the Devil’s Spittleful and Blackstone nature reserves, between Kidderminster and Bewdley, will be able to see restoration in action over the next couple of weeks.
Hedgerow restoration work is taking place along the trackway opposite the Blackstone car park. The restoration is being undertaken by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust to provide better habitats for a range of wildlife and is being done in three ways – laying, coppicing and planting.
Andy Harris, Conservation Officer for the Trust, explained “It’s really important for us to restore these hedgerows in order to help wildlife such as the increasingly uncommon yellowhammer bird.
“The work can look quite dramatic – especially when we have to coppice sections of over-mature hedges. These sections are too poor to lay so the plants are cut to ground level to allow them to re-grow, allowing their strong vertical stems to be layed in the future. Laying creates tight hedges which are suitable for many species and act as traditional boundaries for stock.
“We’ll also be planting locally-native hedge plants to complete the hedgerow.”
Work has so far involved coppicing young ash trees and removing the lowest boughs of mature trees in order to allow more light in to benefit the hedges.
One of the UK’s rarest plants, tower mustard, grows along this section of the hedge. This biennial plant is tall with small creamy flowers. It only occurs at 37 sites across the whole country and is classed as an endangered species, facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Andy continued “The Devil’s Spittleful is an incredibly important reserve as it’s one of few extensive areas of heathland remaining in the county. Our long-term aim is to restore heathland at the adjacent Blackstone Farm.”
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