As regular readers of my contributions to Global Garden will know already, that after twenty years of maturing, the garden at Forest Edge required a touch of ‘ up dating’ recently. During this activity some twenty trees have been planted, an extra fifty substantial shrubs added and some mixed borders have been changed. Much of this work is for the future as, at some stage, the extant maturing trees and shrubs will need to be cut down or cut back and replacements need to be extant. One of the tasks of a gardener is to anticipate future demands and to take action in advance of absolute need. But sometimes events take over.

Us Brits are proud of our ‘green and pleasant land’ with hedgerows, scattered woodlands and majestic impact trees along the roadsides. So it was quite a shock in the 1980s when everything suddenly changed, and not for the better. It is far too easy to take trees for granted. To not think ahead. To expect the landscape to never change.

Clearly the landscape trees in Britain vary with geology, climate, elevation etc but two of the charismatic species are the oak and the elm. The elm trees had stood sentinels along our hedgerows and housed rookeries for centuries. Their precocious spring flowering provided insects with food and the non-splintering, water resistant timber has always been highly prized as a building material. These majestic trees were painted by the artists into our landscape heritage …. until the arrival of Dutch Elm Disease.

Dutch Elm Disease* is caused by a fungal infection of the water carrying elements (xylem) of the wood and can be seen as a dark peripheral band in cut trunks. A burrowing beetle imported with foreign timber supplies from Canada carried the fungus.

I first became acutely aware of the problem when thousands of ‘ 100 year old common hedgerow trees (elms)’, that was the dominant aspect of my local area, turned brown and died within a month. I had taken these plants for granted and had guessed that they would be there forever, however they are gone and never likely to return in my lifetime. 25 million elms died almost overnight.

The sadness was that I’d hardly ‘seen’ the trees as they were ‘just there’. In fact I did not even know that these ancient giants were elms at that stage. One doesn’t know what you’ve got until you lose it.

Recently, whilst exploring my local oak woodland, I noticed a group of dead oak trees with boughs devoid of their characteristic light green spring foliage. One youngish oak had been cut down and its cut trunk showed a clearly visible dark brown, peripheral stain in the xylem. Here we go again?

It was cuttings from willows within the woodland, plus purchased examples of most of the less common forest trees, with which I generated our wild hedgerow. This basic hedge was then supplemented with purchased wild roses, yew and numerous other wild treasures. We also incorporated existing plants and these included cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) and wild damson. What resulted was a very botanically diverse garden divide.

Animals use our two hedges as ‘green routeways’ between the forest and our feeding stations. The hedges are alive with birds and we take the time and trouble to maintain them in a healthy condition.

Hedgerows are visually important but are great for wildlife with many bird species nesting, fruit produced by the plants feeding birds and small rodents; whilst during the winter the vegetation affords useful shelter from the wind. Today permission is again required before hedgerows can be grubbed out, but until recently farmers could obtain grants for putting in hedges or for removing them! How crazy is that?

The ‘Gold Standard’ in hedges is to have one that is ‘layered’. This requires the existing taller woody plants cut down to hedge height and then oblique cuts are made in sturdy stems to allow them to be bent down and woven in amongst the existing stems. These bent stems should then grow uprights and a strong, stock-proof barrier will have been generated that should last a lifetime. Hedge layers are again growing in number as more notice is taken of active conservation measures and people start to understand just how much of the landscape has been destroyed in the recent past.

Local villages now often have a ‘tree warden’ who surveys the local trees and actions replacement or remedial surgery. Supermarkets have been know to give away tree saplings and local schools have tree and shrub filled playing areas.

Britain is known for its small fields and dividing hedgerows, and without them the landscape would be poorer, whilst the diversity and abundance of much of our loved wildlife would be seriously compromised.

Queen Victoria (and her immediate family) were the only people to ever live in Osbourne House (on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England). It was a house that she had designed for her and the contents and garden naturally represents the pure Victoriana style. The pictures supplied should give an idea of the house (Italianate) and gardens.

Osbourne House is well worth visiting and can occupy a whole day. The Isle of Wight is a delight, almost giving the feeling of the UK thirty years ago. Stay to the western or southern edges of the island for maximum benefit.