THE garden is in the arms of winter and the ground is unforgiving. I need to make decisions about how many beds I will need this year to produce food.
With it comes a need for biodiversity. I could plant my crops and walk away but I will lay out an ‘all you can eat buffet’ for pests. I need to create a biodiverse garden that attracts predators as well as pests. To do this, I need more light so that I can plant flowers to attract them.
The problem is I haven’t been keeping on top of the hawthorn and hazel hedge between me and my neighbour. It has become a bit of thug. Armed with loppers, saws and extremely thick gloves against the hawthorns I cut it back by two thirds.
This does several things: it brings in light for my new vegetable patch, brings in predators, warms up the soil, encourages microbial life, it allows more growth at the foot of the hedge, creates more cover for birds, frogs and insects alike when it thickens up over the year. A leggy hedge is a barren hedge that succumbs to sickness and rot. I cut out a lot of decay.
The new vegetable patch is now flooded with light, meaning I can plant flowers, be awash with bees and butterflies this summer. The pruning is drastic but it will grow back, thicken up but I still have the pleasure of cutting my own bean poles from the hazel.
The Back Lane Veg Patch is a new garden under construction on the Saddleworth hills. This column focuses on growing food and flowers for use in the kitchen and home.
If you have any questions on growing you can contact Andrew on twitter
@Backlanevegpat1
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