Mulch around plants with a thick layer of organic matter (7.Water thoroughly and keep well-watered in dry periods for the first year.Cut plants back to 30cm high to encourage bushy growth.Spread out roots, backfill the hole and firm down gently with your heel.Space plants in the trench about 30-45cm apart at the same depth they were growing in the field.If using mycorrhizal fungi, which are beneficial to bare-root plants, mix into excavated soil and sprinkle over roots.Trim off any overlong or damaged roots to encourage growth.Dig a trench and soak plant roots in water for 30 minutes prior to planting.Blackthorn hedging is usually planted bare-root during the dormant season from November to early April, when inexpensive plants are readily available. Stitch pattern is charted with written directions for the chart provided.Container-grown blackthorn is best planted in autumn or spring, but can be planted at any time of year, provided the ground is not frozen. This also provides a very secure method for attaching the buttons. Buttons are attached in pairs, one on each side of the non-buttonhole part of the edging, so that no matter if the front or back of the pillow is facing, the buttons will always be visible. Button holes are worked on one half of the edging only, leaving a solid knit surface on the second half where the buttons will be attached.

Stitches are then picked up around the cast on edge and a matching button band edging is worked. The top edge is finished with a cabled button band. They all have stones and the bushes have similar leaves. Sloes, wild damsons, wild cherry plums and bullaces all came from the same family albeit distant relations. The cable pattern is identical on the front and back of the pillow, while broken rib stripes define each side. I’ve had quite a few emails recently about identifying hedgerow fruit so I thought that it might be helpful to post some of the pictures that I have. This beautifully cabled pillow is knit in the round. Perhaps this lively reel is the result of a farmer accidentally being caught by its vicious thorns, inventing some fancy footwork? The blackthorn shrub has large thorns and was traditionally used in Europe to make animal proof hedges. The Old Blackthorn is a sprightly traditional reel that is a session favorite but whose origins are lost in the mists of time.

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