Lovers Marius Grutters restores century-old hedge pattern

On nearly three centuries old cadastral maps of the Duchy of Kleve, Marius Grutters discovered a special hedge pattern. So special that Grutters wanted to restore it to its former glory.
The Oeffelt native is doing just that on his own Limosa estate, in the middle of the UNESCO biosphere reserve De Maasheggen. In 2005, he bought the first one and a half acres of it from a local farmer. In the years since, the estate has grown bit by bit, with support from Groen Ontwikkelfonds Brabant, among others. By now, Grutters already has 10 hectares of contiguous property in De Maasheggen. Whether it will stop there? "I am in the process of buying another hectare, in consultation with Groen Ontwikkelfonds Brabant," he says.

Marius Grutters' fascination with De Maasheggen dates back to the days when his family owned land there and he visited almost every day. When Grutters started working for Limburgs Landschap 19 years ago, he says his need to be more actively involved in nature and especially hedge restoration in De Maasheggen "flared up again. Grutters immersed himself in the authentic hedge-weaving techniques that had previously been used in De Maasheggen. He was also the initiator of the Dutch Maasheggenvlechten championships held every year on the 2nd Sunday in March. "It is important to preserve for our posterity the knowledge of the old techniques of the past, as well as the skills involved," Grutters believes.

Limosa estate
He puts that into practice himself on his Limosa estate. Limosa is Latin for "godwit," the bird species that used to breed in the Maasheggen area. Moreover, it's a nod to his own last name, Grutters. "The hedges I plant on my estate follow the hedge pattern of the 'Katasteraufnahme im Herzogtum Kleve im Jahre 1731.' At that time, parts of northeastern Brabant and northern Limburg were still German."

Tree frogs
Grutters plants mostly one- and two-stemmed hawthorns. There are also blackthorn, buckthorn, cardinal's hat, red dogwood, Spanish ache, dog rose and hedge rose on his property. Grutters not only restores the old landscape, but also makes an effort to encourage biodiversity. A good example of the latter is the release of 88 tree frogs. Together with biologist Ben Crombaghs of Bureau Natuurbalans, he recently released the frogs on his estate. "A special moment," says Marius Grutters. "For almost 15 years I have been committed to returning the tree frog to De Maasheggen. That it has now become a reality makes me very happy." The plan is to release hundreds more tree frogs in the coming years. The estate's pools, hedges and grasslands are ideally suited to provide the tree frogs with the habitat they need to survive. "Anyway, it's wonderful to see how the estate is developing," Grutters believes. "Just look at the difference between the grasslands I purchased and established in 2005 and the recently acquired meadows. With good management you can really develop very beautiful nature."

Poppies
His estate is there primarily for nature - and not for recreational purposes. Still, he occasionally leads groups of people, including school classes, around. Always with the goal of showing the beauty of nature. "In June, part of the estate was completely full of poppies. Wonderful to see. One passerby after another took a selfie. Again, I really liked that. As long as they didn't trample the poppies."