Sycamore in hedge

[spandit]

My predominantly hawthorn hedge has a sycamore in it which has led to a gap:

 

 

Will it just grow back if I cut it down? Should I try & winch it out or are they deep rooted?

[openspaceman]

Which bit? Laying the hedge or "sycamore not good in a hedge"? Would like to get it laid eventually but I'd rather not have this problem again as laying it would lead to more sycamore shading out other species

 

Laying it or if the adjacent species will layer peg them into the gap, you can cut back the sycamore to prevent it shading new growth.

 

As has been said it's plain to see that it has been the flailing that has caused the gappiness and laying is the remedy.

[spandit]

Yew is not a good plan around livestock,..particularly horses.

 

Good call, I'll stick to holly for the evergreen element

[Daniël Bos]

It most certainly is.

 

I'm not sure why sycamore is considered to be bad in a hedge. It adds to the diversity, so surely it's good. Far to many hedges are low in species diversity.

 

You could coppice it and plant up the gap, then manage thereafter by laying. But if you just continue to flail it, it will never be a great hedge.

 

Ed

Sycamore doesn't like sharing, so with its big leaves (extra big when coppiced or flailed regularly!) and vigorous growth it outcompetes most other species, hence the gap either side of it.

It thus thins the hedge out, creating gaps at the bottom.

 

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[spandit]

Had a couple of holly seedlings in the garden where we're about to put a new patio so dug them up and hacked a bit of the sycamore off to make room for them:

 

 

 

Don't want to upset the soil too much as there are plenty of English bluebells coming up there.