Regional styles.

[Stere]

Any advice to best practice with regards to ongoing maintence specific to species?

 

A homeowner i do work for has had an  up   until now  un-trimmed 100m hazel hedge layed in his garden

 

I know the offical advice of is to  trim 6inches higher each yr untill tall enough to re-lay but does that work well with hazels growth habit?

Edited December 16, 2022 by Stere

[Guest Gimlet]

When trimmed, hazel will produce new shoots around the cut, usually two or more, and the plant will put more energy into growing these rather than continuing to grow the stem below the cut - if that makes sense. So if you trim progressively higher, you'll get a series of sub-dividing knuckles which can accelerate growth, cause the hedge widen as it gets higher and give it the appearance of having bolted. 

Ideally, I think it is best only to trim the sides of a hazel hedge if it is getting unruly and leave the top to grow out until it needs relaying. Which should be when the new leaders that have sprouted from the original heal cut are tall enough to become pleachers themselves. Then you start again, cutting off your old pleachers and laying the new leaders. 

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Gimlet

[Stere]

Thanks makes sense  & kind of what i thought  it was best to do.

 

 

[Alberich4]

Yes, use a practical hedge with a nod to the regional style. They can be a bit arbitrary. The SOE style was conceived for the national competitions when a group of hedgelayers got together in the late 60s or early 70s to discuss how they did it and then decided on a style to which they could award themselves points. The point being it was a competition style, not necessarily what they did in the field. However it soon became the norm - fair enough in, say, the local National Park to have a uniform style and useful for teaching. As regards the Borders style: the reason that it resembles the SOE style could be that when the borders folk wanted to revive local hedgelaying, a group of SOE hedgelayers were invited up to show them how. Whether there was a recognisable borders style before that I don't know. It's not surprising that they are similar as they are both designed for sheep.

Garden hedges should indeed be designed for the required appearance, unless you have livestock on the other side.