Christmas Planting

At Lockley Farm, the home of Lokkelebery Vineyard, we have spent the run-up to Christmas planting hedges.

In addition to the 1,440 plants we have planted by hand adjacent to the vineyard, we have also planted in other areas across the farm. The idea is to create habitats for birds and other vertebrates besides farmed areas to allow us to inhabit the countryside side-by-side.

The hedges have been planted in-line with Countryside Stewardship guidance, so will be managed in a certain way to maximise the symbiotic relationship between agriculture and nature. This is something we have practiced for many years on the farm already, throughout our woodland and pre-existing hedges. However, it is nice to have support for the work we are doing to protect nature and the countryside. The guidance states we must have a tree at regular intervals along the hedge, which have been cultivated from our own trees at the farm.

We have planted a variety of native hedge plants, including Dogwood, Hazel and Hawthorn. We hope that by planting them across the farm we can create wildlife corridors fit for the wildlife on our farm, so that they can move across the countryside without needing to interact with agriculture.

In the vineyard, the hedge also has the added bonus of creating a small wind break for the vines, therefore bringing up the temperature at the top of the vineyard. Much like the vineyard, the permanent hedge plants also act as an excellent bank for sequestering carbon.

We look forward to seeing the growth of these plants of over the next few years.

The New Year

The new year is set to be an exciting one at Lokkelebery. We expect to take our first harvest and look forward to hosting more tours in the warmer months. We are set to release our new website alongside details of our events in the New Year, so stay tuned!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Lokkelebery! Thank you for supporting the Hertfordshire Vineyard established by farmers.