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New to wildlife gardening. Let’s start with stag beetles!

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 50,322
    Hi Joe - those are very big shrubs you've put in. They'll need a lot of care to get them growing away successfully.
    We normally advise people to cut back by about a third to help get them established, and to bush out. If you get plenty of rain over the next month, that should help, but it's a good idea to mulch really well after watering in thoroughly, if you're in a drier area.
    It helps protect them a bit from frosts too, until they get settled in.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • If you Google People's  Trust for endangered  species they have a raft of info on how to encourage  stag beetles. Unfortunately their distribution  does seem limited to southern England .
  • Thanks guys!
  • Here are a couple of pics of the hedge plants. So I need to cut them back by a third right? I’m going to add hardwood wood chippings as a mulch to help moisture retention and encourage stag beetles. The plants are 85cm apart and i’m putting 30cm Portuguese laurel plants in between to try to avoid a gappy bottom as they grow. 
    How do I go about frost protecting 33m of hedging?
    Thanks, Joe

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