hedgelaying

 

  • Both of the following two styles are good sheep hedges; they use stakes, but as a rule neither uses any type of bindings: Lancashire style[edit] Typical features: • Uses a
    double row of stakes, placed alternately.

  • Hedgelaying is the process of partially cutting through and then bending the stems of a line of shrubs or small trees, near ground level, without breaking them, so as to encourage
    them to produce new growth from the base and create a living ‘stock proof fence’.

  • Although mostly similar to the practical and swiftly worked Isle of Wight style, occasional examples of a laid hedge can be seen on the continent.

  • This ‘digging down and stocking up’ was very hard work and as a result when creating internal boundaries, the ditch was often left out but the result was still called a hedge.

  • Typical features of the style are:[4] • Stake sides face road or plough land.

  • • Brush is on the animal side to stop them from eating new growth • Hedge slopes towards the animals, as stakes are driven in behind the line of the roots.

  • The height and condition of the trimmed stool, known locally by names such as a stobbin, is vital as this is where the strongest new growth will come from.

  • • Strong binding is below the top of the hedge (so that bullocks cannot twist it off with their horns) Derbyshire style[edit] As the name suggests this style is from the county
    of Derbyshire which is a mixed farming and sheep area.

  • Sometimes a pleacher is laid almost flat at the base before the next few are laid at a normal angle, this is presumably to help keep the sheep at bay.

  • Often stakes are dispensed with as well, almost all the brush trimmed off, the pleachers cut short and then laid low into the post and rail fence.

  • Pleachers are simply laid one on top of the other, usually in alternating directions, with little of the brash removed, and then pegged down with crooked hazel stakes (similar
    to thatching spars).

  • The aim is to reduce the thickness of the upright stems of the hedgerow trees by cutting away the wood on one side of the stem and in line with the course of the hedge.

  • It is laid between two arable fields—and is so designed that by the time grass has replaced plough land in the rotation system, the hedge will have grown to a normal height.

  • [12] Modern hedges also tend to leave more trees as standards within the hedge.

  • Germany[edit] In the exposed uplands of the Eifel mountains, a particular type of hedgelaying has been employed since the 17th century that makes use of the characteristics
    of red beech to shield domestic housing and also to protect fields from damage by cattle and wind erosion and drying.

  • Cornish style[edit] Cornish hedges atop high banks beside a lane Main article: Cornish hedge The shrubs are laid along the top of an earth bank faced with stones.

  • South of England style[edit] Derived from the rougher Sussex Bullock Fence[9] it has a double brush style,[4] but the cut base of the pleachers can be seen.

  • One of every three or four standards is left tall and are laid back over the hedge.

  • This dies off and forms a temporary way of holding the hedge in place for a year or two until it becomes re-established.

  • [4] The two sides of the hedge are steeped separately (as long as the hedge is big enough) leaving a gap through the centre of the hedge.

  • Brecon style[edit] A double brush style; this means that the twiggy ends of the pleachers are kept both sides of the hedge.

  • There is also emerging interest in reviving older methods of using live stakes (crop and pleach style).

  • The banks are sometimes faced with stone rather than turf.

  • Westmorland style[edit] Typical features of the Westmorland style are: • Single row of stakes down the centre of the hedge which, when the hedge is finished, can no longer
    be seen.

  • Hedgelaying developed as a way of containing livestock in fields, particularly after the acts of enclosure which, in England, began in the 16th century.

  • A section of bark and some sapwood must be left connecting a pleacher to its roots to keep the pleacher alive — knowing how much is one part of the art of hedgelaying.

  • Hedges can be trimmed for many years after laying before allowing the top to grow to a sufficient height to lay again.

  • [9] This style dispenses with heathering and, with a post and rail fence on the field side behind it, does not need to be stockproof.

  • Typical features of the style are: • A very low hedge, with bushes to provide a barrier to wind.

 

Works Cited

[‘”Hedge-laying”. Collins Dictionary.
2. ^ Commentaries on the Gallic War, Book 2, section 27
3. ^ Jump up to:a b “IWHG: About hedgelaying”. The Isle of Wight Hedgerow Group. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i “National
Hedgelaying Society: regional styles”. National Hedgelaying Society. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
5. ^ “Regulatory services delivered by hedges:The evidence base” (PDF).
6. ^ “National Hedgelaying Society Home Page”. www.hedgelaying.org.uk.
7. ^
Seymour, John (1984). The Forgotten Arts A practical guide to traditional skills. Angus & Robertson. p. 53. ISBN 0-207-15007-9.
8. ^ “Characteristic regional hedges”. The Conservation Volunteers. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b Brooks,
Alan; Agate, Elizabeth (2008). Hedging: A Practical Handbook. The Conservation Volunteers. ISBN 978-0946752171.
10. ^ Pryor, Francis (2010). The Making of the British Landscape. Penguin Books. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-141-04059-2.
11. ^ “New course
will try to save traditional Cornish Skill”. The West Briton Falmouth Edition: 24. 2007-05-10.
12. ^ Blissett, Paul. “Hedges In Our Landscape”. Hedges In Our Landscape. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
13. ^ https://www.flickr.com/photos/dave-perry/sets/72157603336893186/
Dave Perry’s photographs of a hedgelaying competition in Boxmeer, 2006
14. ^ “Buchenhecken im Monschauer Heckenland (Beech hedges in the Monschau Hedgeland)”. Euregio. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
15. ^ Leibscher, Karl. “Hedgelaying in Australia”.
Archived from the original on 2019-07-10. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
16. ^ Danielle White (February 18, 2013). “Interview * Kate Ellis * The Hedge Doctor *”. The Countryphiles. Archived from the original on 2013-11-11.
Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/somemixedstuff/2392457180/’]