The pink and white Rugosa Rose hedge at Seaview Cottage has become a quite a local landmark. It is truly stunning when in full bloom and has stopped many a walker in their tracks as they admire it.

The hedge had been left to it's own devices for several years and become very overgrown and choked with weeds. There was no easy way to tackle it, so I donned my waterproofs (it was a pretty wet summer in 2019) and got stuck in. 

The whole hedge was badly choked with sticky willies (Gallium Aparine), which had wound their way through out it - not the easiest thing to remove as they kept sticking to my gloves and my hair. Nettles had also taken hold and even with gloves on I was constantly getting stung. Some patches had been taken over with 5ft tall bracken, and the only way to pull it out properly was to get right under the hedge and grab it from the base - this entailed me crawling under the hedge and lying on my stomach in the mud as I wrested it out of the ground. 

As you will see from the photographs, Himalayan Balsam has taken hold in the area. This pretty bee magnet is unfortunately a highly invasive weed, and can spread and choke out other plants if not kept in check. It is easy to pull out of the ground, but you need to be sure to get the roots out too and be careful how you dispose of it ~ you don't want to spread it to other areas. I bagged mine up until it looked pretty mushy and then put it in my compost bin. We will never be rid of it, but we can try and keep it under control in the garden at least. 

The hedge now gets an annual prune in late summer, early autumn and I try to keep on top of the nettles and sticky willies, which is a never-ending job. I let the nettles remain along the outer hedgerow though as the butterflies love them. 

All this work is worth it though, as come summer we are all rewarded with a stunning display of pink and white roses and their beautiful scent, and the hedge is alive with the buzzing of bees.  As the season progresses towards autumn, the blooms are replaced with luscious scarlet rosehips, which attract all sorts of birds and insects.