June 2018

This lovely summer we are having has brought on a lot of growth to everything including the hedges which are now looking in need of their first trim.

We are proceeding with caution with the hedge cutting as we are well in to the nesting season for birds so each hedge is checked before we start. So far we haven’t had to stop but if we do encounter any active nests we will put that section of hedge on hold until the babies have flown the nest. This is not only for ethical reasons to preserve wildlife, but it is actually against the law to disturb nesting birds.

We are in desperate need of a bigger bird population to eat all the bugs and caterpillars that are setting up home at Loftus. The biodiversity is steadily increasing but isn’t really balanced yet as there are far more bugs munching plants than birds eating bugs. This will get better as the planting grows more dense as it will provide cover and good nesting sites.  A nests full of hungry chicks will keep a mother bird very busy cleaning up bugs and caterpillars.

Caterpillars are a particular problem at the moment on our Birch trees with one tree on Loftus lane being almost completely defoliated. The saw fly caterpillar is very destructive but pretty awesome to see in action.

We will be using organic methods to control these mini beasts as an uncontaminated food chain is very important for our biodiversity at Loftus.