The first of our crab apples are standing tall this springtime on the path from River View holiday cottage towards Pateley Bridge. We released the saplings from their plastic wrappers now they have reached their first birthday. In amongst the honeysuckle, the hawthorn and blackthorn and the wild roses, they are shooting up quickly.
It was a few hours' work unwrapping the young hedgerow, but it looks a lot healthier in the fresh air. Grass growing inside the plastic was smothering the plants. Now all we have to do is keep it netted off from visiting sheep for another year or two until it is tall enough to be laid. Eventually it will create a living barrier between bank and meadow, where we will hopefully see birds and small animals making their home.
