“A straight and tangled row of heavy green,
A hedge, till then unguessed, where loftier trees
Stood up amid a world of clustering things,
Brambles and slender vines and, stiffly held,
The heads of little, sturdy, hopeful trees…”1
Looking through the parched eyes of a city dweller, the patterning of little green acres is indeed a wondrous sight. With an imaginary finger I like to trace the ribboned yardage of hedgerows that mark enclosures or point much further back in time, to parish boundaries and ancient landmarks.
We urbanites talk of living roofs and green walls as a novelty but a walk down any country road or lane reveals miles of parallel, permeable verticals in a wild admixture of tree, shrub and plant. How they all mange to reside side by side in such a tangled competition for space is one of nature’s marvels.
hedgerow food for all
The sights, sounds and smells of a mixed, native hedgerow leave little to the imagination as to the diversity of wildlife that thrives here. Insects in all their metamorphic stages feed from flower and foliage, with birds and bats in their wake, just as hunters follow the herds. Aside from keeping livestock in or out of fields, the boundaries are literally an all-round food supply and in turn grazing keeps the hedges trimmed and species-balanced, so that even the most superficial of glances reveals a richness of flora.
Hedgerow wildflowers
Top L to R: Dog rose (Rosa canina); Yellow vetch (Vicia lutea); White campion (Silene latifolia); Traveller’s Joy (Clematis vitalba); wild honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum); Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris); Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica); Field maple (Acer campestre); Common Mouse ear (Cerastium fontanum)
By the time hedges reached suburbia and town they had become lacklustre monocultures of Privet, Beech, Buxus or Yew. Equally, grasslands and meadows were represented by swards of green lawns, all requiring the regularity of herbicide and trim for a neatness of purpose that leached from house to garden. Privet never had time to bloom nor wildflowers the chance to penetrate the grass and as this time-consuming tidy-up took its toll on industrious, car-driven lives, the solution was to grub it up and hard surface the whole area. 2
urban meadow of Moon daisy Marguerites in monotony?
Severing the arterial connection of conurbation with its environs has resulted in habitat fragmentation and a significant loss of wildlife. In order to reverse such decline, Londoners are being encouraged to pledge their gardens as green space, with mixed native hedging and wild grassland being just two of the restorative criteria, as this urban patch of meadow demonstrates.
Had I plucked the daisy oracle, it would have been a ‘Love Me Not’ response to this startling, but apparently stark, luminous monotony of Leucanthemum vulgare. I’ve since learned that the Ox-eye daisy tends to dominate initially and as numbers of this short-lived perennial drop off, other flowers that tolerate the same mowing regime, start to mingle in. Closer inspection did reveal many more species than at first were obvious, as well as the composite beauty of Marguerite’s tiny golden flowers and white ray florets.
Meadow wildflowers
Top L to R: Wild carrot (Daucus carota); Birds foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus); ?Golden Oat-grass (Trisetum flavescens) Common Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) Common vetch (Vicia sativa)
As I look out of the window or over the garden wall, I am transported back to the city’s prehistoric roots and future forward into a green, metropolitan vision for London. The boundaries of development and environment are perhaps becoming blurred enough for the rural to arrive back on my doorstep.
London meadow & mixed shrub hedge blurring the boundary wall
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Notes:
1. extract from Philip Henry Savage’s poem of the birth of The Hedgerow
2. an area two and a half times the size of Hyde Park of vegetated garden land is being lost every year & the amount of hard surfacing in the capital’s gardens has grown significantly. See London: Garden City?
Useful Links:
Daily Telegraph ” How to grow an Ox-Eye daisy meadow”
London Wildlife Trust: Garden for a Living London
Sculpture habitat installations: Urban hedgerows
Native hedgerows conservation and management: Hedgelink
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©Copyright 2012 Laura Thomas.
All rights reserved. Content created by Laura Thomas @PatioPatch
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I guess in history terms it is not so long since London was a series of villages separated by open spaces, and it would not surprise me if recolonisation of new joining areas took place quite quickly, given half a chance, especially as fingers of London stretch into the countryside. There does seem to be an awareness of just how important habitat is to people, as well as other animals, and a recognition of how important the back gardens of cities are. I have to hope that the much maligned planners keep on insisting on the retention of green spaces in cities, to try to maintain those green corridors that still survive, but consider myself most blessed to live in a rural area.
Interestingly, marguerites tend to be called moon daisies hereabouts, which I think is charming.
I fear it’s do with one hand and take away with the other. HS2 and green belt land for sale is a case in point. On a brighter note, the daisies glow even more so in moonlight
Where ever we live it is important for all gardeners to grow native….the birds and the bugs are depending on our green spaces to survive…we depend on them too.
I love the diversity of the hedgerow.
Sherry
Sherry read my post..Sunday Safari
Especially important in towns and cities. Hedgerows are proof perfect of what works for native plants, Sherry
Is that meadow / boundary wall where you live? It’s beautiful!
Lucy Corrander read my post..FOLLOWED TREES AND INCIDENTAL INSECTS
it is Lucy – a glorious patch of undeveloped garden in Central London
The hardscaping is to provide more space for off road parking?
Elephant’s Eye read my post..Wildflower Wednesday in the Groot Winterhoek
car park, patios, sheds & greenhouses, play areas etc and just plain easy to maintain concrete surface. Surprisingly some people do not want a garden -too much work! Insurance companies do not want trees either.
I am not sure what I think about the move to pledge your property as green space in a city. Will it make a difference? I guess it can’t hurt and will get people focused on the issues.
it’s newspeak Carolyn for how to garden with the environs in mind. To counter all the garden makeovers with decking etc
‘A neatness of purpose that leached from house to garden’ I like that, it really expresses what’s going on. I wonder if the trend for gardens to be considered another room of the house is part of that?
The Sproutling read my post..Science Snippets: Osmosis – it kinda sucks
call me biased but currently it is the ‘outisde room’ mentality that I blame! Pre and Post war, it was a collective keep gardens tidy neighbourhood watch – a neat garden being proof of a tidy house.
Fantastic post. Universities here in America are studying how native plant hedgerows can benefit farmers. It is also a sad truth that in most communities here, we must have a lawn, not a meadow. And farmers and homeowners all use some sort of ‘…cide’ to manage their plants. We have lots of work ahead of us.
Mary Pellerito read my post..Name That Garden
What a wonderful description of hedgerows!
Bridget read my post..Even the Rainbows are low…
Well you know I love this idea…it is what I have pledged here in my garden amongst my neighbors who spray chemicals and cut their neat shrubs and grass…your wildflowers are beautiful and I am glad to see them in so many places. I saw some of the Olympic plantings the other day in an article and there were many meadow type plantings…wish more here would embrace giving their gardens over to green spaces.
Donna@Gardens Eye View read my post..Gardens Eye Journal-July 2012
I have grave doubts on the Olympic planting Donna with am impresario in charge
Such a poetic post Laura…..I felt as though I was actually walking along the lanes here and making my way to ‘London town’
In my humble opinion, I think things are slowly changing. People are beginning to realise that we cannot ignore what is happening to our wildlife.
My neighbour who is not a gardener, has cleared a huge area of lawn and planted it with wildflower seeds.
Education is the key and with blogs such as yours I feel optimistic
Cheryl – seems you’ve imfluenced the neighbour. your garden is the epitome of growing au naturel
I totally agree with Cherylsc. I feel so fortunate to be able to compare notes with gardeners like you in different parts of the world. More folks here in the states are decreasing grass lawn acreage and moving toward more prairie/native plants. They just do so naturally well in their native habitats. Great post.
PlantPostings read my post..Diary of a worried, traveling plant nerd
must start growing what can adapt eh Beth?
I would be delighted if I came across a patch filled with those vulgar(e) daisies. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been a townie, so I’m not aware of the alternatives or the full story. Thankfully, you’re around to show us.
mistakenly had thought it was a mono planting – Accompanied by other flowers, the leucanthemum is far from vulgar
Hi Laura, yes I often think how my much preened garden doesn’t hold a patch on what mother nature provides. I love the hedgerows in the countryside and all that the rural setting has to offer, even though most of it has to some extent been cultivated.
Alistair read my post..What’s in the Garden Pond
we gardeners have to let our hair down for the wildside to emerge Alistair
wishful thinking, I do not have tv so have never seen all those make over programmes but have heard people on radio programmes say they think they are to blame for the covering over of gardens, even garden programmes are/were often said to be more about the laying of a patio/outdoor room than plants/gardening,
I can’t remember which of the radio gardening programmes said it recently but information was given about plants planted in gravel that are good for wildlife and will tolerate being driven over by a car parking, the plants were all native wildflowers,
as we sit at our computers burning up polluting electricity can we criticise ……..
Frances
this is the RHS document on cars, plants and FrontGardens[pdf] Not that this is a problem where you are
thanks Laura, I took a quick look and have saved to read later, I think I’m right remembering after the dreadful floods in York area some years ago the law was changed so you could no longer make an inpermeable hard standing, I think now there are some very strict rules but of course this only affects new work not all the thousands that were built before the new laws, there is very little hard standing here even in town, Frances
What a lovely post, informative and thoughtful! I simply love city gardens and how they bring nature back to the harsh angles of buildings and other structures. Those daisies would melt any non-gardener’s heart with that simple beauty.
The Sage Butterfly read my post..My Garden Notebook – July 2012