New Hedge Planted

A new wildlife-friendly hedge has been planted by the self-catering units thanks to help from Comrie Fire Station, NatureScot and the Woodland Trust.

Matt McLay, Watch Commander for Fire Scotland, South Perthshire explained.

“Comrie Fire Station had a stand of trees that needed to be cut down because they were too close together and a bit unhealthy. In order to get permission to do so, we reached an agreement with NatureScot that we replant at least three trees every tree that we cut down. Not having space at the fire station, we needed to find somewhere else to plant them. Luckily, we found out that Comrie Development Trust had a requirement for some trees. Our Environment Officer, Sheona McIntyre, got in touch with the Woodland Trust who provided the hedglings for free.”

Once the trees arrived, three firefighters, Matt McLay, Neil Dawson and Duncan King, were able to come at short notice on Saturday morning to plant the hedge, assisted by Steven Beavan and Fiona and Chris Palmer from the Comrie Development Trust’s Community Orchard working group.

Chris of CDT organised the planting. “We’ve got 420 plants in the hedge, so we’ve put in a double staggered row with canes and guards to protect them from rabbits. They are native trees: hawthorn, blackthorn, oak, silver birch, rowan and hazel. It almost links through to the ‘living hedge’ that the Orchard Group planted. In a way, it carries on that little wildlife corridor.”

It was straightforward work as the trees were cell-grown rather than bare-root and the trench was pre-prepared. Afterwards, the workers received the grateful thanks of CDT with bacon rolls from the café.