Dreary December (Part 1) – Hedge-Laying

We’re at the back end of the year now but there’s still plenty to do. Continuing from the previous month we were still tackling a stretch of hedge in between bouts of heavy wind and rain. Some days were better than others and we soldiered on laying the hedge. Nevertheless eventually we had it done in the end, which left us with a neat section of hedge in the midlands style (I think, although I’ve probably got that one wrong!).

Although there was a snag as we were left with a mountain of brash to chip up! Still all hands were available to reduce the mountain and create chippings that we can use within the hedge itself or often we spread them around younger trees and new hedges (more on that in part 2) to help improve moisture retention.

A former colleague joined us during the period of hedge-laying to help us out for a week and offered a few tips too. Having helped out laying the hedges on the Estate (but never actually done the laying myself), there does seem to be a bit of a knack to it.

From what I understand you cut in at an angle leaving a thin slither (but not too thin!) to allow the hedge plant to bend over. Depending on the style there is some siding-up involved, before, during and after the actual laying. The next step is where I come in, staking the hedge to hold it up and to prevent it blowing over in the wind.

Simple, you say? Well, like most things it sounds much easier than it is! I know my colleagues (Paul and Deb) who haven’t really laid any hedges before struggled a bit before they become more confident with the actual process. Even putting in the stakes (which we make on the Estate too, usually months in advance) takes some time to learn how to place them in correctly.

Like I mentioned before, the last thing we do is to chip up all the brash from the hedge. If we find we are a few stakes short, and when I say a few I don’t mean just a couple; we search through the spare branches and cut out anything long and straight enough to use in the hedge.

In the above picture you can see our ex-colleague Boz searching the brash for some useful poles while Paul and I carry on chipping.

Here’s a thought, how about that for the title of a new movie: Carry On Chipping!

The only other step we take when we lay a hedge for competition or where it’s most likely to be seen by the public is the binding. Again this differs between the different styles of hedge-laying but essentially you weave bindings, usually of willow (whips) across the top of the hedge, between the stakes.

Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the bindings but I do have one with the completed hedge and spare stakes that I think didn’t quite make the grade for the hedge!

Anyway, that’s all for this section on hedge-laying! I’ll probably write a more in depth post at some point with more detailed information, but coming next is part two of our work in December, coming in January!! Go figure.

Thanks to Deb for providing the images :)