Creating a hedge

[Stere]

 

Quote

The trees you want to keep are the ones you want to mature and become ancient. You want to keep them in their maiden form. The others would probably be best coppiced and let grow up to then be laid later on. Also don’t forget about protecting the regrowth from deer.

 

Also crown raise the maidens and maybe  single some smaller previously coppiced trees to convert to maidens (just keep one stem) to reduce the shade help  hedge to thicken up....

[keptenjim]

Thanks for the advice given. But quite honestly, I'll probably be pushing up daisies by the time I've coppiced everything and then waited for the regrowth then laid a new hedge. No, no, I simply want to cut all that growth down to about 8 feet or thereabouts (see pics) and plant new hedge in the gaps. What I'm asking is 'if I do this will those trees shown in the photo survive such radical cutback and will they grow to help form the structure of a hedge'? If someone could help me with those questions I could then decide if it will be a worthwhile project 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2022 by keptenjim

[Mark J]

2 hours ago, keptenjim said:

Thanks for the advice given. But quite honestly, I'll probably be pushing up daisies by the time I've coppiced everything and then waited for the regrowth then laid a new hedge. No, no, I simply want to cut all that growth down to about 8 feet or thereabouts (see pics) and plant new hedge in the gaps. What I'm asking is 'if I do this will those trees shown in the photo survive such radical cutback and will they grow to help form the structure of a hedge'? If someone could help me with those questions I could then decide if it will be a worthwhile project 

 

 

They probably will, but do try and leave any established trees alone, a multi-level hedgerow is way, way, better for wildlife than a shitty, uniform, flailed thing.

[Dan Maynard]

Are you sure? Was in our local wood today, some of the stumps I coppiced 3 years ago have sprouted to over 8 feet tall. Regrowth from stumps is much faster than new planting because of the established root system.

[keptenjim]

Well that does it then - the trees stay as they are and the hedge gets planted between them. Thanks to all for feedback