Heres just a couple of pictures from the last days work of hedgelaying for this season, in total this winter I did 1.6 miles of hedging, from over grown stuff that took days to clear to quick and easy jobs like this last 1, more can be seen, either on my FB page or my website gallery Dorset hedgelayer.co.uk(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/IMG_2868.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1557954718)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/DSC_0176.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1557954753)
Ah
When I read the topic of hedgelaying I thought what in the world is that.
Now that I realize you in the UK I understand but still dont know exactly what it is.
Is it trimming and shaping?
Hi there hedgelaying is a craft which has been around for Hundreds of years. Here is a brief description I have on my site along with plenty on the www .http://www.dorset-hedgelayer.co.uk/about-hedgelaying/ (http://www.dorset-hedgelayer.co.uk/about-hedgelaying/)
Hedgelaying is a country skill found across most of the UK, and is thought to date back as far as Roman times.
Over a period of time, many different styles have evolved depending on location, the stock and the land, but all work to produce the same goals, some of these being
Retaining livestock: Various finished heights maybe seen depending on stock, a laid hedge is a living fence
(https://forestryforum.com/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dorset-hedgelayer.co.uk%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2015%2F01%2FIMG_0486-300x225.jpg&hash=a97725999c7adefb024404a564ee734288412a27) (http://www.dorset-hedgelayer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/IMG_0486.jpg)Helping to rejuvenate an old hedgerow and maintain new : by laying a hedge it will encourage new shoots & new life into the hedge
To provide greater weather protection for crops and local wildlife
When laid a hedge becomes a safer passage for the smaller wildlife to travel along, and for larger stock to shelter against.
The theory behind Hedgelaying is easy; the practice is not – requiring skill and experience
Over a period of time if you just flail the tops of the hedges , they will become gappy at the bottom and just a mass of growth (if your lucky) at the top.
Then you would need to put fencing in as well.
if you lay the hedges you will fill in the gaps , there by making a stock proof boundary, which in turn encourages nature, better nesting , safe passage for manuals, crop protection to name a few.
Thanks for interest
Russell
Welcome to the forum
Very interesting topic
@Dorset (http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=45549) Was that first picture a before picture? Second one an after one?
If you want an idea how tough these hedgerows can be, google WWII tanks and hedgerows. Pretty amazing....Scott B.
And Welcome to the forum Dorset!
Hi there yes a before and after picture with a month or so regrowth. You can see the gaps from allowing it to just grow up compared with the after shot. Regards Russell
That is what I thought on the pictures.
Here is another "after" shot of another one(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/IMG_2615.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1558034703)
Welcome to this forum, Dorset !
That's pretty cool ! What kind of bush/tree are they ???
Do you just bend them over and secure them with those sticks or do you have to cut a wedge out of one side of the stem ?
@sprucebunny (http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=1412) it was a mix of Blackthorn and Hawthron, Here is a couple in Beech. The basic cut is the same in all styles (theres about 25-30 styles) This style , South of England Style you cut and lay at approxamatley 45 deg, then the stakes are hammered in down the center, followed by the "binding" lenghts of hazel, willow along the top, holding it all firmly in place. There's plenty of pictures in my website gallery http://www.dorset-hedgelayer.co.uk/gallery/ (http://www.dorset-hedgelayer.co.uk/gallery/) covering a few styles that I work in
cheers Russell
Thanks, Dorset. I'm fasinated. I already looked at every picture on your website but I haven't figured out if you are cutting them off and they resprout or if there is a special type of cut ( like a wedge) or what. If it's a trade secret, I suppose my curiosity will go unsatisfied :)
Hi, no trade secret as that cut is the main part of the whole thing. It's just trying find a good picture/video to share, like all things there's good and bad of anything and I'm trying to find you a good one obviously
I found this Wikipedia page.
Hedgelaying - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgelaying)
They call the cut "pleaching" and it looks like they cut all but a little bark on one side.
Thats very interesting. I like it. Welcome to the forestry forum. Banjo
@sprucebunny (http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=1412) , ye its called pleaching or plashing,
heres a bit of film from 1942
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoprVhpOKIk&t=17s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoprVhpOKIk&t=17s)
NOT FORGETTING there are approximately 30 odd styles here is just a couple
heres some more modern times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gzmdgq7Yfo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gzmdgq7Yfo)
and this should take you to my youtube videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/G5XW (https://www.youtube.com/user/G5XW)
cheers for you interest
Russell
Dorset, Thanks for the videos !
I saw there is a hedgelaying competition and someone named Russell came in second last year... How does the competition work ? Is it doing the laying now for speed and looks ? I would think a couple months or year of growing would be telling of quality also.
I'm going to try this with some beech trees near the road. Don't have many in a row together but it will be fun to try. It really caught my attention because I have a lot of alder that is pretty useless but making a hedge out in the woods is also pointless; as much as I'd like to torture the darn alder !
@sprucebunny (http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=1412) Competitions is not a case of the quickest, but there is a time frame which you must be finished by,
then its all down to your cuts,
neatness,
true to your local style or the style of the area your are cutting in,
the stake line (if that style has stakes)
over all presentation
and is it stock proof,
Even though its going to grow at the time of finishing some styles have level tops or straight sides , so if you had one bit sticking out that could be the 1/2 point that could cost you the top place.
Hedges chosen for competition are chosen as "even" as possible but of course there will be some bits just a little thinner/thicker/ more or less species, but as best as even as you can get with mother nature. Sections are marked out and you draw pegs/lots/cants, so like we all say it's the luck of the draw on the day...Heres marking out we did for the National Championships last yr, approximately a miles worth in all and just over 100 cutters take part..There are plenty of local competitions over the country with the number of entrants anything from 5-70 odd people. Not sure if you have found it but there is North American Coppicing and hedgelaying page on FB https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=coppicing%20pollarding%20and%20hedgelaying%20north%20america&epa=SEARCH_BOX (https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=coppicing%20pollarding%20and%20hedgelaying%20north%20america&epa=SEARCH_BOX)(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/IMG_1875.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1558127709)
Thanks again !
I've always wondered about hedges and how they were maintained.
Will it work using a chainsaw or am I going to have to sharpen an ax ???
All commercial cutters use a saw, as time is money, BUT depending on the size of the stems sometimes its just as, if not quicker to use a bill hook or axe and of course quieter, which is nice. Many times it will look so drastic at first but in the long run its very beneficial for all the reasons said before.
As best as possible you want the hedge about 9 foot high and over I say, so long as you can bring it down safely it doesn't make how tall it is not forgetting it is at least held (hopefully) at the base
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/Picture_4_from_BHHA_thanks5B15D.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1558190344)
Also dont try to lay everything look down the hedge line anything not in line ,
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/P1010022.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1558190852)
In this picture you can see how high and wide the hedge is, but look between the 2 trees to the left hand side thats the finished hedge. With the suckers growing out from the hedge cut off there only get in your way, clear out bramble, grasses, nettles etc
in these next 2 you can see the land gained even in this small garden. The yellow circle marks the same bit of granite . Nice job in France
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/P1010005_before.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1558191881)(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/55549/P1010014_after.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1558191880)
The laying season here in the UK is roughly September to end of March maybe creep into April depending on spring growth and nesting birds.
cheers Russell