September 2013

15 yards hazel hedge, Stewkley, Bucks, South of England style

Here 15 yards of hazel hedge was produced from four hazel stools. Although not clear from the initial picture there are extensive gaps between the separate stools of hazel.  As well as creating a hedge along a boundary of this small garden hazel coppice, laying simplies future maintenance for the owner.

Some of the hazel in the coppice was also cut to supply sufficient stakes and binders for the hedge plus additional materials to be used elsewhere. In this garden setting, regular cutting of the hazel is necessary to allow the grass between the stools to continue to thrive.

The last two pictures show another length of hedge created in the same garden in 2004 along another boundary of this coppice by laying a row of hazel stools (see here to view the initial hedgelaying).  In places, the laid stems have since rooted creating new plants as shown in the first of these pictures.
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