Remember the hazel hedge at Jubilee Farm in Snoqualmie Valley? Well here’s the end of summer update on this fabulous hedge project! Mel and I went back for a recent visit and took a good look at our work. The hazel is recovering marvelously and in a few years, might be producing a nut crop again, with proper tending and continued hedging.
We were both very pleased to see the green growth of new shoots which will be bent back down and woven into the hedge this winter to promote continued thickening of the wall. Our posts are solid, creating a perfect barrier for cattle in a totally natural setting which will also provide a valuable crop in future. The old hazel stand had so much dead wood in it, clogging the trees and making it hard for new growth to thrive. By cutting out all the dead stuff, we made space for new growth to pop up and thrive along this hedgerow.
There is still part of an old stand of hazel wood further down this divide, and Mel and I are planning to be back at our pleachering this fall to fold down the rest of the hazel stand. If you look closely in the photo below, you can see the old hazel stand further down this vegetation line. There are many dead standing branches, where as the newly laid hedge is green and vibrant. This new growth will all put on nuts in the next few year and continue to come back vigorously. We’ll keep folding over the new shoots, ever increasing the stability of the hedge fence while encouraging the new growth and nut production down the line. We hope that Jubilee Farm can enjoy this working hedge row for years to come.
EEC Forest Stewardship 