What could have been done better?

[AHPP]

Not my hedge, not my work. Saw this and thought it looked like a fairly poor job but I don't know why exactly. So what's wrong with it? How could it have been done better?

 

Apologies if it's anyone on here's work. Promise I'm not trying to be snarky. Just seemed like a good learning opportunity. 

 

[Peasgood]

Cuts are a bit high and should have kept the horses away from it better.

No expert mind.

[GarethM]

I'm more intrigued as to what the electric board are doing to the left with four stays.

[AHPP]

The vast majority of the regrowth is coming from the stools, very little from along the laid stems. Should the stems be nicked at points along their length to stimulate growth at the nicks? Ah hang on. You're meant to limb the stems before laying them down so the limb wounds do that, right?

[Peasgood]

The purpose of the pleacher (the laid bit) is to form a living stockproof barrier that feeds the stool while the new growth gets going. Most regrowth should come from the stool, 70-80%. The pleacher will eventually die off as the strong growth from the stool crowds it out, that strong growth will also naturally thin itself. In 20-30 years it is then ready to lay again.

If you don't cut the pleachers low, the next time you come to do it the growth you want as your new pleacher will be too high.

In your pic they should have been cut a bit lower and the gaps planted up. It looks to me that the horse(s) have been allowed to eat off some of the new growth from the stools which is not a good thing.

[MattyF]

49 minutes ago, AHPP said:

The vast majority of the regrowth is coming from the stools, very little from along the laid stems. Should the stems be nicked at points along their length to stimulate growth at the nicks? Ah hang on. You're meant to limb the stems before laying them down so the limb wounds do that, right?

Can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear lad “ as my dad would say , whoever has done it has made the best out of a bad situation, the stems are too big on the first place to be layed. 

[AHPP]

Horses (six or seven maybe) have only been there for a couple of days btw.

Edited April 1 by AHPP

[Stere]

Looks abit weird with thoose high stumps.

 

 

[Bill C]

With what little I know, the stumps should have been cut at ground level and the pleachers laid low with most downward growth trimmed off. Any other growth weaved together and trimmed to a height just above the Pleachers. I was told the ideal way to lay pleachers is up hill, if that can't be done towards the sun. But if the growth is sparce but high the pleachers can be laid in either direction to fill gaps(a bit different if it's a competition). When the hedge has grown in 5/6 years then it can be laid in the correct direction. I was also though that the pleachers would only spout new growth were they touch the ground, like when Hazel is copiced and laid on the ground and staked.

[Bill C]

Thinking about what I've just typed, It's not quite correct, growth should spout from the pleachers at any point, but were they touch the ground they should root.