Shelter and the wild wild west

Stand where you see that brown blob-and see all the way to sea

One of the best views I know is from home, on top of the hill where you can see all the way to Spanish point and Mutton island beyond, all the way to where the sea meets the horizon.In all the times visitors have stood to admire the view it has never occurred to anyone that the reason for this vista is a distinct lack of trees, and where there are no trees, there is no shelter. Old boys like my father believe "nothing grows around here" ignoring the evidence to the contrary when armies of bog oak are frequently unearthed in neighbouring fields. Just to be sure no trees should get ideas above their station every house has a chainsaw and its exercised yearly to keep it in good order. Hazels, willow and hawthorn that might take a nice shape, and grow to a decent height are quickly put back where they belong, at ground level.

the accursed hill in winter

So no trees, no hope of any trees succeeding does make for a fine uninterrupted view for miles in every direction, but bloody hell it makes for a windy place to live.During many a winter storm, passing 100mph winds would rock the ancient gable, keeping you awake at night listening while old timbers creaked and groaned. At times you wondered, is this it? will the roof come off any minute now? Years and years later, driving to my new home, passing lots of old trees and pretty hedges, it never remotely occurred to me that soon I would be reliving some of those classic sleepless stormy nights, this time much worse than the original versions.

It was a dead giveaway when people who visited would say " what a beautiful view!"But enamoured with the view, and deceptively much farther inland than a West Clare girl should go I settled down happily. Over time I found the land was rich, particularly in minerals. The natives were friendly, and spoke a version of English that I could understand, and the weather, although much colder than the fair maritime seas of home in winter, was certainly warmer in summer. There seemed to be a lot less rain too... bliss!

dress it up however you want its still bad weather!

But then I woke up one night, surprised by the ferocity of the wind blowing on the western gable. No inland place could surely be as noisy as home I thought, its a fluke, back to sleep. Only there was no going back to sleep and each successive forecast that predicted any form of a strong wind, filled me with dread, and usually brought me to wakefulness at some ungodly hour, made me cranky and extremely cross the next day. How the bloody hell can you move this far inland and suffer the noise of an Atlantic coast in full winter storm?

Well 5 years later its all becoming crystal clear. I live in a wind tunnel! How the feck did I manage to chose a place that can rival and surpass home for wind noise and sleepless nights?? Its all geography. I wont bore you with the ins and outs but a hill channels the wind and it roars across my house. So now, through necessity,  I am the worlds leading authority on how many hedges you can squeeze into a 3/4 of an acre site. And we have done nothing else more consistently, than plant hedges.

a single line of hornbeam for the seated area

The 2012 hedging season got off to a good start with this years two hedges getting delivered last Friday. This time its the turn of purple beech and hornbeam, two stalwarts of heavy clay soil, particularly the hornbeam that is bullet proof when it comes to strong winds. Both keep their brown leaves in Winter too, adding a much needed screen for areas that need as much shelter and privacy as possible, a seating area and the vegetable garden. There are now two rows of hedging at the offending south western corner of the site plus a shrub/tree wind break line. No doubt next year one of us will decide that's still not enough and we need more!

If James ever sells the field I'm buying it. And I know exactly what to do with it too. Fill it with layer after layer of trees and hedging for the ultimate wind break!

Hedging season is from November to March, buy your hedging bare rooted during these months and save yourself a lot of money. You can plant single lines of hedging or staggered double rows. Hornbeam can be pruned at the bottom to give a nice floating hedge or hedge on stilts look. Purple beech can be mixed with green beech for a mottled effect. Hornbeam grows much faster but both make beautiful hedges that look best when kept nicely trimmed.

hornbeam hedge in Kilmainham, Dublin

purple beech