The White Stuff

I've been looking for ways to record the profusion of white this year. Many people are commenting on how dense and prolific the hawthorn blossom appears to be, and I would say the same about the cow parsley (or Queen Anne's Lace or, as it was in my childhood, keck). This is the closest I've got to documenting it

The mass of white blossom across the landscape like this is a sign of dereliction. These shrubs-becoming-trees are there because they were planted to form hedges. The hedges were intended to be stock-proof - their thorns acting to deter livestock from pushing their way through. To be effective, they had to be trimmed each winter to limit their height and breadth, and force them to branch profusely. This removes most of the branches that will flower in the following season, so a well-trimmed hedge has little 'May blossom'

Even when trimmed regularly, hedges become 'hollow'. The lower branches die and break off, leaving gaps between the vertical stems. Some of the plants die, leaving even bigger gaps. The traditional solution to this was to 'lay' the hedge: almost, but not quite, sever the upright stems and lean them over at an angle of 20 to 45 degrees. This immediately closes the gaps, but also provokes growth from the base of the hedge, along with vertical growth from the now-leaning stems. The hedge thus becomes denser and more impenetrable (for some years, after which the cycle must be repeated)

All this maintenance requires hard manual labour - though many farm workers found it rewarding work, and took pride in their hedge-laying skills. Increasing mechanisation of agriculture means that the labour resources, even on livestock farms, are no longer there to undertake the work. Hedge-laying skills have been lost, and the advent of barbed wire and tools to rapidly erect posts have led to fences being used to constrain livestock instead of hedges

Many hedges were removed in the second half of the 20th century and many that remain merely provide a windbreak and some shade, rather than a barrier. Time and money spent on hedge maintenance cannot be justified in terms of business bottom line, and the result is these lines of overgrown hedge and their profuse blossom. Government subsidy regimes may attempt to encourage to retention, planting and maintenance of hedges but, for these old grown-out examples it is too late

Honeybees will collect hawthorn nectar under the right conditions, and the coming week looks hopeful for that to happen, as the oilseed rape flowers rapidly fade. With luck, we may get some interesting honey. In the mean time we can enjoy the show, the smell and the exuberance of what has, at last, turned into an exhilarating spring