As we now enter summer and we have had rain after the long dry spell that we had in April and early May there has been a spurt of growth with the grass (not as much as we would like!) but also with the hedgerows.

What this has mean has been that we have had to do a bit of pruning and strimming around the gateways and the stiles to ensure that the branches, bramble, blackthorn, nettles and thistles don’t start to block each of these areas.

Now this is not cutting of the hedges, as that can only be done from the very end of september through to the end of March, it is selective pruning and trimming to ensure that there is no obstruction to the crossings and the paths.

One of the things that we do find is that once the hedge comes into leaf then we get the weight often makes the branches start to drop and also the new growth will dangle over the stiles or encroach onto the paths, so a little bit of work will help to keep the crossings open and working.

The aim is that later this year, after september we will look to do some hedge management and get some of the bramble back under control.