North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Title: Re: [NAFEX] beechnuts again

Interesting.  I've been to Scotland and have seen such hedges.  I wondered why they didn't drop their leaves, but I wasn't there long enough to observe them to find out.  They look odd because the trunks can get fairly large, which seems very out-of-place in a hedge - you don't expect a hedge to have more than stems an inch or so in diameter.
-Lon Rombough
> From: "Mark Lee" 
>
> In the world of landscaping, a Scottish beech hedge is the largest hedge in
> the world.  Planted in 1746, it is 580 yards long.  Regular trimming keeps
> the trees from forming the abscision layer which causes other trees to drop
> their leaves in the fall.  This makes the brown leaves to hold on the
> braches through the winter until bud break.  The hedge thus provides
> screening year-round.
>
> -Mark Lee, Seattle, z7B/8A