Over the winter volunteers, apprentices and staff have been planting new hedges at Gaythorne Hall, under the guidance of Asby Tree Group. Overall, around 600m of hedge was planted, starting with the Fell Care Day in October and then over a number of work parties.

It was predominantly planted with hawthorn and blackthorn, however other species like hazel and dogwood were used. In addition to this work, Asby Tree Group and Woodland Trust have held separate planting days – everyone working to meet a target of 2.5km of new hedge.

The planting has been taking place at Gaythorne Hall, which is owned by the Levens Estate and managed by Jim Beary. The hedgerows will increase biodiversity and carbon storage, create a larger network of wildlife corridors, as well as increasing the number of field parcels. Jim Beary wants to change how the land has been managed, with more field parcels allowing rotational grazing known as ‘mob’ or regenerative grazing. The hedge planting is part of a larger project that has received a FIPL (Farming in Protected Landscape) grant.

We also carried out some hedge laying training events, read more about this here>