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.

Filter by

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
- Read more
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
- Read more
Best Trees For Windbreaks
January 25, 2019
Before we start, a little about what a windbreak actually is. What's the difference between it and a shelterbelt or hedge? What are you looking fo...
- Read more
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
- Read more
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
- Read more
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
- Read more
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
- Read more
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 ...
- Read more
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...
- Read more
Planting Native Hedges: Why and How To
October 18, 2011
Why and how to plant a native hedge
- hedges
- Read more
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
- Read more
Disappearing Hedgerows
August 30, 2010
We are STILL losing our hedgerows
- birds
- hedges
- Read more

Page 1 of 2
Next page

Hedgelaying for Wildlife

Where Have All The Hedgerows Gone?

Best Trees For Windbreaks

Hedges In Cities Are Good For Our Health

Wot! No Hedge Plants?

Why Hedgelaying Makes a Better Hedge

Hooper's Hedgerow History Hypothesis

Hedge Planting In The Wet

Hedgerow Harvest

Planting Native Hedges: Why and How To

We Need Botanists not Bond Traders.

Disappearing Hedgerows