Withies and Hurdles
From Terry and Eileen
If you have walked through POWP in the last 10 years you may have noticed the woven fences (withies) and more robust wooden fences (hurdles). These serve three main purposes;
1. Keeping leaves off the paths during spring and summer months
2. Providing a home for a variety of fungi, lichen and bugs.
3. Decorating the park in a natural and aesthetically pleasing way.
Examples of withies; around a formal bed, preventing leaf and soil movement and around the patio area; and hurdles being built.
We use offcuts, that were previously just discarded, and wood from storm damaged trees. Laurel is a good material for the woven fences. It is very flexible when bent round stakes, plus there is a lot of it in the park. Holly is also good and flexible. Yew is good choice for hurdles as it rots more slowly than many other woods. This repurposing of natural resources contributes to our sustainability.
The withies and hurdles require constant maintenance as all wood rots in time and needs replacing. The wood we take out can be piled up to make bug hotels so we try hard not to waste anything. Another maintenance job is the removal of leaves that have gathered behind the withies and hurdles. If we don’t do this the wood rots more quickly. Again, we don’t waste the leaves, we transfer them to leaf bins where they eventually form leaf mould which our horticulturalists use.
We have been building and repairing withies and hurdles for over 10 years. And enjoy this more than any other job in the park. We love using and sourcing the wood that would otherwise be left. We often get very positive comments from the park visitors and questions about what we are doing. Its great to chat with members of the community and feel that all of the hard work contributes to making our park a safe, friendly and enjoyable place for everyone
