So once you've laid a hedge, how do you maintain it?

[agg221]

As the title says really.

 

I'm gradually working my way around my boundaries, taking out the 20ft or so wide strips of scrub, leaving the hedge line, filling the gaps and laying it. I wouldn't say what I do is particularly pretty, but it's functional. What I can't find out is what you do with it once it's laid.

 

Obviously it needs trimming, but periodic re-laying seems to be the norm, which suggests it needs to get taller. If you just keep trimming annually, letting it get a few inches taller each year, surely you end up with a very dense, twiggy mass, which is great as a hedge but very awkward to re-lay?

 

When you do re-lay, what do you do with the old laid bits and the shoots coming up off them? Do you cut out anything that's been laid before, or leave it? You can't just lay over the top of it or the laid bits will get taller than the stakes.

 

Any advice?

 

Alec

[Jesse]

As the title says really.

 

I'm gradually working my way around my boundaries, taking out the 20ft or so wide strips of scrub, leaving the hedge line, filling the gaps and laying it. I wouldn't say what I do is particularly pretty, but it's functional. What I can't find out is what you do with it once it's laid.

 

Obviously it needs trimming, but periodic re-laying seems to be the norm, which suggests it needs to get taller. If you just keep trimming annually, letting it get a few inches taller each year, surely you end up with a very dense, twiggy mass, which is great as a hedge but very awkward to re-lay?

 

When you do re-lay, what do you do with the old laid bits and the shoots coming up off them? Do you cut out anything that's been laid before, or leave it? You can't just lay over the top of it or the laid bits will get taller than the stakes.

 

Any advice?

 

Alec

always lay close to the bank and uphill, clean out as much timber as you can, id say dont then trim anually but re lay in 5-7 or 10 years time you could even go longer if its been layed well the first time, remember your doing this to produce a stock proof boundry and fire wood, i know cutters who will still in this day and age buy hedges for the timber and re lay within the ageement, i dont do it just for the wood i charge from £8 to i think the most iv ever charged was £25 per meter that was on black thorn but dispite the thorns in the hands it must be the best wood to burn

[Matthew Storrs]

we tend to trim them annually after being laid, when it starts to get thin at the bottom of the hedge which it will over time, let it grow up untill the pleachers are at least 8ft high and around 3-4 inches in diameter at the base, then re-lay, although the style up your way is quite different from the Devon style hedgelaying which we do which is ontop of a five foot bank, so the hedge isn't the main barrier. some hedges get laid every ten years others could be more like 40 years if they are trimmed properly, don't go in too hard with the trimming back to the same cuts as it will just end up like birdnests on sticks over time.

[agg221]

Thanks Both,

 

The two replies suggest that hedges should be treated something like a linear coppice. It puts me in mind particularly of the treatment of an overstood coppice, where you leave a few poles to keep the stool going. In hedgelaying, these are the pleachers. Compared with a coppice, the difference is that laying them slows down the growth rate, and relative to full coppicing (i.e. not overstood), leaving the pleachers reduces the amount of regrowth from the 'stool'.

 

There are two slightly different ways of treating hedges, based on your objective. One is to regard hedges just as a barrier. To do this, you trim the growth back to about 2in extension per year on average to avoid creating birds' nests on sticks. This maximises the interval between laying. The other is to also regard them as a source of firewood. Here you actually want more wood growth, so you leave it alone and 'coppice' (re-lay) on about the same interval as conventional coppicing.

 

Round my way (Suffolk/Essex/Cambs. border) there isn't actually a correct style so far as I'm aware, so I tend to use South of England as it suits me, and use anything vaguely straight, between 0.5-1.5in diameter and over 8ft long as a binder. Not particularly pretty, but it works and I don't have stock to protect against.

 

Alec

[coppiceer]

I had the following advice regarding maintenance and laying intervals from the National Hedgelaying Society:

 

"Current thinking on trimming is that it is probably better done not more than once every two years and each time raising the cut approx 15mm (6inchs). This ensures a steady growth whilst keeping the hedge under manageable control. Eventually (after approx 30 years) depending on the seasons etc, it will be approx 4m (12/13ft) high and will be ready for relaying, or coppicing depending on how the stems have matured.

 

Best time to trim is difficult: Autumn cutting (ie Sept -Oct) does mean that you loose fruit which is good for wildlife, but does have the advantage that it is easier to monitor the level of cut since the hedge should still be green after it has been trimmed. Late Winter cutting preserves the fruit during the winter months but does mean that trimming is not so easy and the tendency is to cut off the whole of the previous seasons growth."

 

Hope it helps.

[John Russell]

From a wildlife perspective, once lain, it's recommended to trim alternate sides of the hedge, so that you're always leaving plenty of grown hedge for the birds. Worst thing is to cut back hard all over and leave nowhere for nesting.

 

Also try and cut out inappropriate wood: so don't lay fast growing trees such as sycamore, goat willow, elder or ash -- they're invasive but not good hedge trees and will crowd out the trees you do want to encourage for a stock-proof hedge; such as hawthorn, hazel, beech and the like. Often in winter you'll find big holes in hedges where an elder or a sycamore was in full leaf in summer.

 

Best wishes,

 

John Russell

[blazer]

Many hedges have been lost to Elder dominating, best to pull out Elder with a chain on a tractor and fill gaps. Hard going to find hedges that are easy to lay, normally with tangled top growth.

 

Some local layers have stopped using binders and used stakes but tied the hedge down instead, makes it easy to trim with a tractor in following years.

[agg221]

At the moment, it's originally hawthorn in some places, blackthorn in others. I'm also leaving in dogwood and spindle, planting a few field maple and where it's a bit shaded I'm adding hazel. Reasonable mix?

 

Also, when looking over a length, how do you decide whether to lay or coppice over?

 

Alec

[Jesse]

At the moment, it's originally hawthorn in some places, blackthorn in others. I'm also leaving in dogwood and spindle, planting a few field maple and where it's a bit shaded I'm adding hazel. Reasonable mix?

 

Also, when looking over a length, how do you decide whether to lay or coppice over?

 

Alec

depends what you have to work with, where your gaps are and age of hedge as some stems may be too thick or mite snap as you try to lay them, this can be a problem when trying to close an open gap in the hedge, you may have to work or lay a species that would have been better to coppice, Holly,Beech and Oak may also be a consideration, you could also select a few single trees within the hedge to remain for Habitat diversity and Amenity value, you do have to watch the Oak with horses as it is poisonous to them.