Diary: April 2003

Last winter I planted a deciduous hedge around part of the pond area; the idea being that I will be able to completely close access to the pond if required, e.g. when there is a possibility of small children gaining access when unattended.

I chose to use native species; mostly hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), but with some blackthorn (Prunus spinosa, field maple (Acer campestre) and crab apple (Malus sylvestris). Almost all of the 50 or so plants, which I bought by mail order as bare-rooted whips, seemed to have survived the transplanting. However, the dry spring weather has concerned me a bit, so today I gave them a good watering and a mulch of my best garden compost. Before I applied the mulch I also gave each plant a good handful of dried chicken manure.