Children and adults from the allotment got together on Sunday 13 April and planted a wildlife hedge on the site.

The children planted shrubs -- including hazel, hornbeam, beech, privet, dog rose, silver birch, cherry -- and stuck in labels with their name and the name of the plant. Peter and Imogen ran the activity with help from Oya, Peter and Sid dug holes with a pickaxe, and Dharmasakhya, Noel and Jason helped to plant shrubs. The shrubs and trees were donated by David, Noel and Jason.

We also had colouring, word search and mazes with a wildlife theme, and all the children got a gift bag and a certificate and a sticker to celebrate having planted a tree.

There are still a few trees to be planted, and we all need to do a bit of watering of the new trees as they are getting established and during the warm months of summer. If everyone can just take a couple of watering cans over from the nearest tank every time they go, or more if possible, then we can watch the hedge thrive, and hopefully it will get as bushy as this one in a couple of years.

This is why we planted a hedge:

Hedges are wonderful wildlife habitats, providing thick shelter for wildlife and plentiful food for nesting birds in the form of the tiny caterpillars and other insects. These insects are also an important source of food for bats, hedgehogs, shrews and mice. Hedges are fantastic habitats all year round, they look good, and they produce nuts and fruit too!

You can read more about planting hedges and trees for wildlife here,

and here from the Woodland Trust

You can be a nature detective and find lots of different trees here

and here are some more guides to shrubs and trees, starting with the hazel