Autumnal hedgerow fruitfulness

September 20, 2015September 20, 2015 ~ judyheiser

Beautiful day today so took ourselves round the meadows looking at what the hedgerows had to offer

thumb_IMG_2862_1024 — Beautiful black berries on the Dogwood

thumb_IMG_2867_1024 — We have a few Elder trees and many of the berries on this one have already been eaten

thumb_IMG_2872_1024 — Bright red Hawthorn berries

thumb_IMG_2888_1024 — Spotted this butterfly on the way round. Unfortunately the camera had run of battery by this time and so had to try to get it on the phone camera. I think it might be a Chalkhill Blue but maybe not….

thumb_IMG_2908_1024 — This dragonfly was sunbathing on the blackberries. Again – only the phone camera so image not great but I think it is a Southern Hawker, but the rarer variant that doesn’t have any green on it, just blue. But then again, what do I know?

thumb_IMG_2910_1024 — Loads of blackberries

thumb_IMG_2912_1024 — This wild rose bush is growing up the middle of a cherry tree

thumb_IMG_2934_1024 — The ivy is covered in bees. There is a very audible humming as soon as you get close. Maybe next year I’ll be able to tell you what sort of bees they are but at the moment I have no idea.Update: They are Ivy Bees, Colletes hederae. The ivy is humming like an electricity sub-station.

thumb_P9200048_1024 — Old Man’s beard. I understand that this plant favours chalk and there certainly is a lot of it in the hedgerows. There were several references on the internet to the seeds being good for birds but I couldn’t discover any details and certainly no birds are currently flocking to it..

thumb_P9200038_1024 — Seems to be a very good year for sloes. We are going to try to make some sloe gin shortly

So the hedgerows are dripping with berries at the moment. We are planning to cut sections of the hedgerow each year on a rotational basis so that each year there will be berries left around to bridge the hunger gap later on in the winter.

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