I recently returned from a trip to Holland to see how the Dutch grow hedging plants. I visited nurseries specialising in field-grown and pot-grown hedging. Larger sizes of field-grown plants are dug up in the winter months with a ball of soil around the roots (called a rootball) and this is wrapped with hessian to keep the rootball together. Pot-grown plants can be planted at any time of the year.

The Football Association (FA) has selected Middlezoy Rovers FC in Somerset as one of eight clubs to pilot a new ‘Self-Help Scheme’. The FA has given £1000 towards materials for the development of the grounds and facilities and the rest is down to the local community members to organise donations from local businesses and help from local people.

Following an autumn and winter of storms, the demand for fence panels has risen to five times higher than normal levels. The St Jude Storm at the end of October depleted stocks and the subsequent storms in January and February now mean there are weeks of wait to get fencing panels.

An established hedge will not blow down in the wind like a fence, it does not need painting, won’t go rotten and will last a lifetime if trimmed regularly.  Most hedges only need to be pruned once a year and if they are kept to the same height as a fence panel, i.e. 6ft, they are easy to maintain with a hedgetrimmer and there is no need to go on a wobbly ladder.

I visited Montacute House for the first time this week. It is a National Trust property near Yeovil in Somerset.  The gardens were very formal and the planting was not spectacular but the hedges were great!