Willows & Hedges

Willows..

I expect many of you are wondering what’s happened to the willow trees, and why they have received such a harsh pruning?

The answer is in their name, they are called Pollarded Willows. These native trees are very fast growing and If left to grow to their natural size and shape would out grow their space in no time, reaching 25 -30m at maturity.

The practice of pollarding is an ancient craft which was developed to keep the trees to a manageable size and prolong their life. It requires all branches to be cut back to the trunk at the same height every  year in early spring before they start to grow.  This annual pruning produces a crop of thin willow branches which can be used for basket weaving or building living willow structures like the willow tunnel in our new park.

The trees soon recover from this extreme pruning to produce a wonderful firework like display of thin vigorous branches that wave about in the wind. The dead bits of wood and crevices that develop in the crown of these trees with this treatment creates a habitat for overwintering insects making them excellent for biodiversity.

However not all is well with our pollarded willows. Toward the end of last summer 5 of these Willow trees developed some sort of disease where their branches turned brown. I pruned all the branches back straight away in the hope it wouldn’t spread and sprayed with a fungicide.  It seems to have worked as all the rest of the willows appeared healthy when we pruned them this spring but I have no idea how the sick ones will grow this year. I’m not even sure if they are alive at all, time will tell.

We also have another type of shrub willow in the street planting beds which has also received some hard pruning, this time right to the ground. This is called coppicing. The same principle applies and the regrowth is vigorous and very attractive.

Hedges..

Loftus garden Village has been planted with wide range of hedge varieties. They have been carefully chosen not only for their aesthetics qualities but also with biodiversity in mind.

They range from native deciduous hedges such as Horthorn , (great for nesting sites and home to many insects), to highly ornamental evergreen hedges such as the bright red hedge in Loftus walk (Photinia  ‘Red Robin’ )

The Hornbeam and Beech hedges are somewhere in the middle of these two examples. Although they are classed as deciduous, they do have ornamental qualities in the way they hold onto their dead leaves through the winter months. When these hedges are contrasted next to evergreen hedges they can look stunning. Young Hornbeam hedges however do take a few years of establishment before they hold on to a good display of leaves in the winter so a little patience is required.

All these hedges are different and have varying  growth patterns. Some grow very fast and are already  up to their final height such as the bright green Grissolinia around the crescent, while others such as the Escallonia are slower growing and will take a few more years to get there.  These varying growth patterns will also determine the number of cuts a hedge will require throughout the year.

In all we have ten different hedge varieties , each with individual qualities of their own but all collectively contributing  to that special Wow Factor that is so unique to Loftus Garden Village. Below are photos of the hedges from around the Estate, starting with two Escallonia hedges, A healthy Yew, two Hornbeam hedges, A Hawthorn at Wednesbury Street car par, A Olearia and two Prunus Lusitanica hedges,