March 2022
Great Hundridge, New Wood, a tall and substantial 238 metre mixed hedge, laid crop and pleach with live stakes. As well as all the usual benefits, laying this hedge was going to provide good cover for pheasants. The hedge had been topped at about 8ft and then allowed to grow up giving a good height overall but with a low centre of gravity making it perfect to lay; I was able to work on this hedge when it was quite breezy. Had it not been topped previously it would have been top heavy and most likely tangled up at the top making it very challenging and I would have required an assistant.
One day working on this hedge I was treated to the sight of roe deer
Start of hedge which leans away from the wood towards the light. Before...
...and after
Looking down hedge from the field side before...
...and after with surplus brush on the left
End of hedge from field side, before...
...and after
End of hedge detail; some taller stumps have been used to secure the end of the hedge
End of hedge looking up the track, before...
...and after
The very start of the hedge...
...view from the start...
...and detail of the start which is around 5 ft tall
Making progress looking up the hedge from the field side...
...and the view from the start
Detail showing live stakes supporting the hedge and how dense it is...
...with no shortage of material to work with
There were some lovely views looking down the hedge line through the tunnel created between the hedge and New Wood
View down the track between the hedge on the left and New Wood...
...take two...
...take three...
...and take four
New Wood behind makes a stunning backdrop
Here you can see a gappier section...
...which I've been able to make good with tall material from further along
Half way or so
A spindly section where I've looped in a couple of dead bits to keep it all together
Another gappy bit where I've needed to keep an awkward piece, though that piece looping down to the ground has a good change of rooting to create a new plant...
...and I then filled the gap with adjacent material
Tricks of the trade - cutting a notch in a stem to align it correctly with a live stake
Tricks of the trade - the live stake on the right would not have laid well and in any case has a laid stem off the front, itself held snugly by another stake
Long view looking along the hedge line
Looking down the hedge - note all the firewood yet to be taken for my woodburner
The very end of the hedge, before...
...and after
Wingrave Sports & Social Club for Wingrave Parish Council. 41 metre trial section of very overgrown hawthorn and blackthorn boundary hedge. Another hedge laid crop and pleach with live stakes. This hedge was very tall and leggy and the spacing between stems meant it could only be laid pretty flat
View from end of hedge, before...
...same view, after...
...same view, arisings chipped, regrowing nicely and coming into flower, 9th May 2022
Very awkward section, before...
...and after
View from ditch side, newly laid...
...same view, greening up nicely 9th May 2022
End of hedge newly laid...
...hedge by the same three stakes shown in the previous image, 9th May 2022