Guide on Hedge Planting: A Step-by-Step Guide
Traditional Hedge-Laying Styles in the UK: A Celebration of Regional Diversity
In the heart of the British countryside, a centuries-old tradition continues to thrive - the art of hedge-laying. This skillful practice, used for creating living fences, has evolved over time to reflect local customs, landscapes, and plant life, resulting in a rich tapestry of regional variations.
A Morris & Sons Ltd., a small company that has been making billhooks and other tools since the 1800s, plays a crucial role in preserving this traditional craft. From October to March, when the trees and shrubs are dormant and birds have finished nesting, skilled hedge-layers across the country bring these ancient techniques to life.
One of the most distinctive styles is the Devon Hedge. Unique to Devon, these hedges often feature earth banks faced with stone or turf, with a line of shrubs planted on top. This style integrates an earth bank base, adding structural height and serving as a wildlife habitat. Many Devon hedges are over 800 years old and are considered historically important. They combine turf or stone facing with shrubs to form a robust, ecological hedge.
The Yorkshire Style is characterized by long stakes driven into the ground with thin, densely laid pleachers (the cut stems) woven between them. The Yorkshire style aims for a dense, secure hedge with a strong framework of stakes to hold the pleachers upright and encourage growth.
In Cumberland, the style uses angled stakes and a more open weave of pleachers, often giving a looser but still effective living fence, primarily using hawthorn. The Cheshire Style is noted for very tightly laid pleachers slanting steeply against stakes, producing a thick barrier. The hedge is often built on an earth bank to increase height and thickness.
The Somerset Style is common in the West Country, involving hedges laid flatter with pleachers laid more horizontally, often supported by an earth bank and sometimes incorporating stone. The Welsh Border method uses hazel stakes that are sometimes driven in at a 35-degree slant.
Each county style has its own unique characteristics, yet they all share common principles. Hedge-laying involves cutting stems partially through near the base (pleaching) and bending them over without breaking, then weaving them between upright stakes (called spars). This creates an impenetrable living fence filled in with smaller shoots and regrowth to exclude livestock and promote wildlife habitat.
Traditional tools for hedge-laying include billhooks, loppers, pruning saws, and various patterns of billhooks. Bind the stakes firmly together using long, thin, and flexible hazel rods, known as binders, heathers, or weavers.
The annual National Hedge Laying Championship showcases the skill involved in hedge-laying, while organisations like the National Hedge Laying Society provide information on courses and details of professional hedge-layers. For those seeking local hedge-layers and locally sourced coppice products, Coppice Products offers valuable resources.
Whether it's the earth banks of Devon, the upright stakes of Yorkshire, or the loose weave of Cumberland, each traditional county style of hedge-laying is a testament to the rich heritage and adaptability of this centuries-old craft.
Gardens adorned with a Devon Hedge, considered historically important, provide a mix of turf or stone facing and shrubs, creating a robust and ecological hedge. The Yorkshire Style showcases long stakes driven into the ground, with thin, densely laid pleachers woven between them, resulting in a dense hedge with a strong framework. In contrast, the Cumberland Style features angled stakes and a more open weave, often made primarily with hawthorn.
Lifestyle enthusiasts who appreciate home-and-garden projects and gardening may find enjoyment in learning various traditional county styles of hedge-laying, such as the Cheshire Style, with tightly laid pleachers slanting steeply against stakes, or the Welsh Border method, which uses hazel stakes driven in at a 35-degree slant.
The National Hedge Laying Championship serves as an excellent platform to admire the skill involved in these diverse hedge-laying styles, many of which have evolved from local customs, landscapes, and plant life, contributing significantly to the rich tapestry of regional variations in British gardening.
