Blog

The Habitat Aid blog is set in Somerset. The blog tries to introduce some of the issues surrounding our natural environment as understood by a non ecologist. You’ll also find some practical “how to” guides. It’s written by Nick Mann, who runs Habitat Aid. Nick is an increasingly curmudgeonly bald middle-aged bloke of familiar type.

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Blossom, Blossom, And More Blossom!
April 18, 2020
You can have blossom in your garden from January to May. Here's why you want it and how you can have it!
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Hedgelaying for Wildlife
January 13, 2020
I love a bit of hedgelaying. I'm too old/knackered/incompetent to do very much, but it's a good workout and - more importantly - it's good for wil...
- hedges
- Hookgate Cottage
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Where Have All The Hedgerows Gone?
February 13, 2019
What people need on Twitter is more education and less politics. I had a classically nonsensical conversation with a couple of twitterati over t...
- biodiversity
- hedges
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Best Trees For Windbreaks
January 25, 2019
What is a windbreak and what are the best trees for windbreaks? A brief guide, including recommendations for gardens and orchards.
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Hedges In Cities Are Good For Our Health
January 12, 2019
I've always been a big fan of urban hedges. I reckoned that - like trees - they must help manage water runoff and moderate temperatures. Planting...
- hedges
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Wot! No Hedge Plants?
January 9, 2019
The commercial world of native hedge plants is a funny one. There are a few hardy folk out there selling British hedge species which they themselv...
- Habitat Aid Ltd.
- hedges
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Why Hedgelaying Makes a Better Hedge
November 4, 2018
Hedgelaying now seems hopelessly quaint. It's incredible to think that there would have been thousands of agricultural workers spending months and ...
- hedges
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Hooper's Hedgerow History Hypothesis
April 26, 2017
Max Hooper has just died. He was a proper botanist, who became known because of his work on British hedges in the 60s. From the obituaries and his ...
- hedges
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Hedge Planting In The Wet
February 5, 2016
Hedge and copse scheme, Cambridgeshire. By my reckoning, this bare root planting season the Habitat Aid hedge elves will have planted something ...
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Hedgerow Harvest
October 8, 2015
There's never a really good time of year to flail a hedge, but it's particularly galling to see so much hedge cutting going on at this time of year...
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Planting Native Hedges: Why and How To
October 18, 2011
Why and how to plant a native hedge
- hedges
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We Need Botanists not Bond Traders.
October 21, 2010
A quick rant following the Spending Review, and not concluding as you might expect.
- biodiversity
- hedges
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