Hedge Laying

The winter cutting season is finally here! For woodsman all over the country it's a pretty exciting time; as between the months of October and the end of March is when the majority of coppicing and hedge laying work takes place. This is the way it's been for a VERY long time; cutting in the winter avoids disturbing any birds that might be nesting in the coppice during the spring / summer months and it's also better for the trees themselves. The sap within a tree rises during the spring and early summer and then begins to fall during the autumn. By winter deciduous trees are in the depths of their dormant stage. This means that most of a trees energy reserves are stored in their roots during the winter, by coppicing a tree in the winter the tree is able to put this energy into sending up new shoots, or regrowth, in the spring. For more information on coppicing see my previous post.

The first job for me this cutting season has been a hedge laying job on a community green in Watlington, near Kings Lynn in Norfolk. 

First section of laid hedge

The hedge to be laid was 80m long and comprised almost entirely of hawthorn with a few self seeded sallow trees mixed in. Hedge laying is a very traditional way to manage a hedge; it revitalises a hedge by encouraging it to send up new shoots in the spring. When laying a hedge a small proportion of the stem is left intact with the stump, this allows the laid stem (or pleacher) to actually carry on growing, maintaining a living barrier. There are many hedgelaying styles in the UK, this particular one is known as the 'Midland Bullock' style and is often reffered to as the 'standard' style.

Hawthorn pleachers; the aim is to get the stem to 'lie down' without
shearing it from the stump of the shrub. a proportion of the
outer bark, inner bark, cambium and the sapwood layers remain
attached. This way new growth will shoot from the pleacher and
the stump. 

With the midland style one side of the hedge is known as the near side, and the other as the far side. The near side exposes the stems and pleachers giving a lovely woven look, this side would traditionally have been on the track side. The far side of the hedge would have been on the field side, on this side of the hedge the pleachers and stumps are completely covered by the brash from the tops of the stems. This prevents any livestock on the field from nibbling away the tasty new re-growth which would eventually kill the hedge if not prevented. 

In the case of this hedge, livestock was not a concern. Therefore I laid the hedge with the near side facing in towards the community green; anyone walking through the green will see the neat, woven near side. Another reason for choosing to lay it this direction was that the road next to the hedge often has large vehicles travelling along it. The hedge is laid the same way as the direction of traffic flow closest to the hedge so that any up-draft caused by large vehicles does not lift the pleachers off of the stem, severing their lifeline. The traffic along this road doesn't travel all that fast so whether large updrafts are created by any vehicles in this case is debatable, however this would certainly be something to consider if laying a hedge alongside a motorway or bypass. 

When a hedge is laid it needs to be staked to keep it in position, and to give it an initial bit of strength. I brought some sweet chestnut stakes up with me from Kent as these make extremely strong and durable stakes for hedging, fencing or any situations where stakes are required. (P.S. if you need any chestnut stakes, check out my coppice products page! Couldn't resist the plug!) 

Stakes ready to be split.

I split these 5'6" poles down to make cleft stakes, even the poles split into 8 stakes made extremely strong stakes that could be really driven into place. If you'd like to learn more about splitting poles using a cleaving brake and a froe please see my previous post about making ash gate hurdles.

Some chestnut stakes all split and ready to be driven into the hedge.

Once the hedge is laid and staked it needs to be bound. It was fortunate on this job that there were a number of willow trees that had self seeded into the hedge, these made great binders. Two sets of binders are wound around and around each other as they flow along the length of the hedge, creating a great look but also helping to hold the hedge together to create an instantly strong stock proof barrier. 

80m of hedge all laid and bound. The section at this end of the photo
has been dead hedged to fill a gap between the hedge and a gate.

The Eastern Daily Press (edp) even decided to come and cover the project, they wrote a little article about it available here. They took a nice photo of Keith (one of the Watlington Millennium Green Trustees) and myself too.

Keith and me flying the WREN flag! 

This hedge laying project took place on Watlington Millennium Green, near Kings Lynn in Norfolk and was organised by the Watlington Millennium Green Trust (who were very hospitable!) and was funded by WREN. 

WREN help to fund community projects that are located within 10 miles of a landfill site. This hedge has now been revitalised; it will continue to provide a refuge for wildlife whilst also opening up a community run outdoor space to create wide views across the green. 

A special thanks also to Chris for his help almost everyday I was hedging! I hope you learnt a few tips and don't forget that I'm determined to get you competing in a hedge laying competition soon!