Megan Gimber (Hedge Geek)

Theres some wonderful urban hedge planting too
💚 no spirals needed here
💚species mix natve &great for urban setting (beech, holly, hornbeam, privet)
💚trimmed low early to prioritise basal branching density
💚well mulched with chip

But can anyone spot the big problem?!

Ive seen some management on my way to the meeting. This was layed, & is now getting a close trim, which will force out branching denstity in the base

But.... those stakes are very upright for a welsh lay! Welsh styles normally have stakes at an angle (which makes me feel drunk)

A Horrible Truth That Shouldn’t Be….

Event: Hedgerow myth busting – (So you think you know hedgerows?) - 6th May 2025, 18:00 - The People's Trust For Endangered Species Shop Hedgerows are an incredible habitat, offering a wide range of environmental as well as on-farm benefits. But in a lot of ways they can be hugely misunderstood

Check out our friends @ptes-org.bsky.social who have an event running on the 6 May at 6pm with @favcolourgreen.bsky.social 🌳

Hedgerow myth busting – (So you think you know hedgerows?)

Get your tickets below!

shop.ptes.org/product/tick...

What a glorious day to be in Wales!

Im here chatting policy, but couldnt help getting up a bit early to check out the sights

Like the Ritz for wildlife: the joy of recreating England’s ancient hedges Up and down the country, volunteers are coming together to plant more of these nature-rich reserves

Thank you @phoebeweston.bsky.social for such a wonderful and optimistic article on Hedgerows!

It's great to celebrate the wonders we have, appreciate the legacy, and use that to inform our combined future
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

1. I'm not actually sure, but maybe bullace? Might go back when in fruit
2. It's standard monogyna, but I was referreing to the weird nests-on-sticks elm in the middle. A result of suckering &static management
3. Currant!
4. spot on, old pleachers showing the marks left by last hedgelay Xyears ago

On a fasconating site visit today

10 points per photo to tell me what you see

Where are you? Id guess youd only get them in *very* long established hedges, or ones cut from wildwood.

A funny old world, look what I found on a site visit today! Hedge currants

Miles from any houses so as far as I can see its unlikely to be a garden escapee

Blossom is so often overlooked when we choose a new apple tree, but as this wonderful montage from @thepackingshedtamar on IG shows, some varieties have especially beautiful flowers. Scent also varies greatly from variety to variety.

YES! I love finding Redcurrant in the wild. Sometimes when you find one in a very old hedge (&you can rule out garden escapee) I use it as a sign of a *properly* ancient assart hedge; one left as strips when the ancient wildwood was cleared for fields.

Flutterby

Come on rain! Its dry as a bone on this here bank. And this mini restoration needs water!

Self-professed ‘hedgerow geek’ Megan Gimber is our John Spedan Lewis Emerging Leader Award 2025 winner! She has spent almost a decade advocating for the protection, management, and growth of the UK’s depleted hedgerows.
@ptes-org.bsky.social @favcolourgreen.bsky.social

www.linnean.org/the-...

What a surprise, a delight, and an honour!

Its always a joy when the hedgebank stitchwort flowers

One of our new(ish) hedge oak pollards coming back to leaf & looking great

We wanted the oak that popped up, but didnt have the space for a full canopied whopper

This keeps it compact, gives us woodfuel on rotation and makes a great tree

Fernhill farm open day was incredible. I got to show people some amazing hedges in a traditional laying cycle. I got to meet the wonderful @thread.and.yarn who has a hedgerow shawl knitting pattern (love!) and even learn about bark-ometers from Andy Rummings

I'm going to be at the Fernhill farm open day in the mendips today

Ive been to the farm &drooled over their hedges before, do cant wait to be leading 2 sessions tomorrow; one practiacl management for farmers, one general knowledge for the public

Lots going on all day!

Happy equinox to those that celebrate!

Megan.gimber@ptes.org
Or 07816943675

Thank you!

Can't keep a good beech down!

This one used to be a layed hedge...

Welcome to the water! I've lived aboard for 9 years - massive reduction in my carbon footprint, even bigger increase in my freedom, happiness and nature immersion

@elenapearce.bsky.social A fantastic talk!

I use the open-mosaic wildwood to explain how cultural habitats which mimic this structure are so biologically diverse

It can inform how we manage farmed habitats to integrate more diversity. Not just the structure but the temporal & spatial dynamism

I passed a worm this morning, worming its way down a concrete underpass. Itd progressed 3m since I passed it earlier

Instincts were failing it. There was nothing for it down there.

To the confusion & disgust of passers by, i took it to a scrap of grass, to face other town dangers

I think it was about 8 yards or so?

Done! Win or not, its veen a great day

This layed hedge is now the smallest itll be for the next 20-30 years. Its about to bush up and out, providing for wildlife of sll kinds for another lifecycle

And tom got 4th place in his class! Not bad for his first competition

Getting the binding on! This lovely basketry is actually to bind all the stakes together and give some structural rigidity to rhe hedge as a whole.
You'd have to be a big bugger to have the strength to push through this!