November 2022
Weekend hedgelaying training course at the Greensand Trust, Sandy Smith Reserve, Clophill. The Greensand Trust has planted 2.5 kilometres of hedge at this site that is now ready to lay. I laid an initial section in February 2022. All the hedges are mixed hedges of predominantly hawthorn and planted as double staggered rows to give good thick hedges. This was the first hedgelaying course run on the site. Two different styles are being used - South of England where stakes and binders and required but most will be crop and pleach using live stakes which saves the cost of the stakes and binders and is much quicker - both significant considerations with this much hedge to manage.
Start of hedge before...
..and after. I had laid the completed section to the left previously to get the hedge started and so course participants could see what we were aiming for
Beyond my section, participants are making good progress
It usually works best with participants working in pairs, so they can take turns, assist each other and are not strung out too far along the hedge to keep an eye on.
A number of trees were left to grow on as standards, mostly field maple, the trunks marked with spray paint so they didn't end up laid into the hedge
Joining sections is always awkward where people work together on a hedge. Each pair has to be able to progress their own section without making it too difficult for the previous section to be completed. Here this has been achieved by supporting the start of the next section on a prop. This is also going to allow it to be laid onto the section on the left without having to pick it all up.
The section of hedge being laid was on the way to the reserve car park and opposite a number of houses on the other side of the road, so the emphasis was on quality, not quantity. Here laid sections are being tidied up..
...and here the tops are being cut off at an angle the same height above the binders
Participants troop round for their group photograph...
...all smiles and understandably very pleased with the standard of their work
After lunch on the Sunday participants put in a couple of hours laying this section crop and pleach...
...which ended up looking like this...
...same view looking back the other way. The hedge is secured with live stakes running alternately each side and very strong as a result.
Bedgrove Scouts & Guides, Aylesbury. The client wanted a more secure yet environmentally friendly back boundary. 40 metres hedge was laid repurposing the old concrete posts to support the hedge.
View from start of hedge before...
...and after
Hedge from footpath side before...
...and after. Note the excess brush cut from the hedge at the back..
Detail showing laid hedge with concrete posts
North West Bucks Agricultural Association 2022 Championships. My Championship Class Midland style section. A double staggered row with very little of substance in the front row made it very difficult to produce a decent hedge
My section before...
...and after