This article really landed at the perfect time, I was just thinking about urban green spaces. I'm fascinated by the 400 pounds of hedgeballs you mentioned. While it sounds incredibly vibrant, does that massive ammount of organic material ever pose a... maintenance challenge, or does it integrate naturaly into the aesthetic you're aiming for?
This makes me feel somewhat better about my decision to plant some hedge on an old field. I'm going to try coppicing it (another lost art along with hedge laying) it's indestructible nature and high BTU content seem like it should have a place somewhere.
Hedgeballs... bois d'arc, some of the toughest wood grown on the NA continent, maybe even tougher than black locust. Where I am there aren't many, they don't seem to survive at our latitude; used to be plentiful 200+ miles further south into Illinois.
Black walnuts do well here, make a mess every fall with the hulls from the green 'seeds' that litter lawns and roads. Bo'darc & walnut both make great firewood, but the former will dull your chainsaw quicker than running it into sand so maybe stick to just burning the deadfalls 'stead of cutting 'em out of the landscape.
Odd you mention Norway Maples turning red! They abound here, turn bright yellow a few days before the leaves fall off pretty much overnight. They also suck the life out of the soil for pretty much anything else trying to grow underneath 'em. I routinely dig out masses of fine netted roots fifteen feet or further from the drip line from what our property's former owner planted some fifty years ago that grow into my modest attempts at growing vegetables, some flowers.
All that tidiness is terrifyingly sterile. How can anything survive in all those sharp lines?
This article really landed at the perfect time, I was just thinking about urban green spaces. I'm fascinated by the 400 pounds of hedgeballs you mentioned. While it sounds incredibly vibrant, does that massive ammount of organic material ever pose a... maintenance challenge, or does it integrate naturaly into the aesthetic you're aiming for?
This makes me feel somewhat better about my decision to plant some hedge on an old field. I'm going to try coppicing it (another lost art along with hedge laying) it's indestructible nature and high BTU content seem like it should have a place somewhere.
Hedgeballs... bois d'arc, some of the toughest wood grown on the NA continent, maybe even tougher than black locust. Where I am there aren't many, they don't seem to survive at our latitude; used to be plentiful 200+ miles further south into Illinois.
Black walnuts do well here, make a mess every fall with the hulls from the green 'seeds' that litter lawns and roads. Bo'darc & walnut both make great firewood, but the former will dull your chainsaw quicker than running it into sand so maybe stick to just burning the deadfalls 'stead of cutting 'em out of the landscape.
Odd you mention Norway Maples turning red! They abound here, turn bright yellow a few days before the leaves fall off pretty much overnight. They also suck the life out of the soil for pretty much anything else trying to grow underneath 'em. I routinely dig out masses of fine netted roots fifteen feet or further from the drip line from what our property's former owner planted some fifty years ago that grow into my modest attempts at growing vegetables, some flowers.
I always look forward to reading a new piece of your writing. Cheers to the mess!