There are big new developments afoot in Reg’s Meadow this winter, changing the whole appearance of the top and left hand side as seen from the seating area. One of these developments is the laying of the left hand, southern hedgerow, planted after the meadow was purchased. This has grown up strongly, with a good variety of trees and shrubs and has been very productive in nuts and fruits, as well as providing some outstanding autumn colour.

Developing Gaps

Over the centuries hedges have come about for a variety of reasons. Some hedges occurred naturally, when woodland was cleared for the growing of crops and the edges were left standing as boundaries. These may have been used to provide wood for fuel or fencing, to give shelter or to provide fruits and berries in autumn, for animals, birds or humans. Deliberately planted hedges really came into their own as a result of the various Acts of Enclosure (or Inclosure as they were then called) which took place from the 13th century onwards, reaching a peak between 1750 and 1850, when it was estimated that over 200,000 miles of hedgerows were planted in around 100 years, as much as in the previous five centuries together. Sometimes they simply marked the boundary between land belonging to different owners. One of the most important uses of the hedge has always been to provide a stock-proof barrier, for keeping cattle or sheep in or out and it is for this purpose that the craft of hedge-laying was developed. As a hedge grows taller, it becomes more tree-like than shrub-like, and gaps develop lower down. Animals are gradually able to push through these gaps and the hedge is no longer stock proof. A hedge can be successfully managed by trimming for many years but once it becomes gappy at the base, one of the best way of restoring it and lengthening its life is to lay it.

Hedge laying is normally carried out during winter, ideally between November and the end of February, while the trees and shrubs are bare of leaves. It should not be done during very frosty weather, as the stems become more brittle in these conditions and can easily snap. A hedge is ready to be laid when it reaches between 2.5 and 5 metres in height and when its main stems are 5-10cm in diameter, around the thickness of an average wrist. Here are some of the tools used in the process – thick, thorn-proof gauntlet gloves are also required, especially when laying hedges containing large quantities of hawthorn and blackthorn, which are very common hedgerow species. The two tools on the right are billhooks.

There used to be many different designs of billhook, depending on the area in which they were made and used. Nowadays these have been standardised down to a few basic shapes and produced by a small number of manufacturers, but it is still possible to find older refurbished billhooks in many different styles. This photograph shows just two of them, one sharp and ready to be used.....the other very much in need of some attention! The one on the left is more often found in the south of England and the right hand one in central and northern areas.

Overgrown Hedge	Preparing the Hedge

Before beginning the actual laying of the hedge you need to clear away all weeds and rubbish from the base of the stems. This allows you to see what material you have left to work with and shows up any significant gaps. Diseased or dead wood should also be removed at this stage, as well as thick stems unsuitable for laying, and side growth should be cut back towards the line of the hedgerow. The hedge in Reg’s Meadow has a lot of side growth, overhanging the grass for a long way towards the path. The laid hedge should not be too wide, allowing the light in to encourage new growth, so this needs cutting back quite a lot.

Pleaching	Pleaching Cut

The first step in the actual laying of a hedge is called pleaching, which involves making a cut through about three quarters of the stem, about 10cm from the ground, cutting down at an angle of 45 degrees, and leaving just enough of the wood to allow new growth to spring up from the cut area. (The thicker the stem being cut, the longer and steeper the cut should be made). This looks very drastic, but provided the cut does not go too far through the stem, it does not do the plant any harm.

Tree section

A tree’s bark is only a thin covering layer, with most of the tree contained inside. The inner layer of the bark is called the cambium and is the part of the tree that causes it to grow bigger, producing the annual growth rings by which you can tell the age of a tree when it is cut. Inside the cambium is the sapwood layer, the lighter area around the edge of the section of wood shown here. This is the part that carries water and sap up through the tree to the leaves. The darker, inner section is the heartwood. As the tree grows, a new layer of sapwood is formed, and the old layer dies and dries out, enlarging the heartwood. When pleaching a stem it is essential to leave the cambium layer and a small part of the sapwood layer, otherwise the stem will die and not produce new growth. Pleaching has traditionally been done using a sharp billhook, but it can also be carried out with a hand axe or a bow-saw, which are often used by less experienced hedgers, as they are sometimes a little easier to control. It is all too easy to cut right through a stem, which cannot then be laid into the hedge.

Bending the Pleachers

Preparing the Stakes

Once the pleaching cut is made, the stem is bent gently to one side, making sure that it does not twist and break, until it reaches an angle of between 45 and 60 degrees above the horizontal. The stems must not lie flat or bend downwards, as sap always rises and cannot flow downhill. The protruding “heel” or stump left from the cut should be removed to leave a clean surface that will allow rainwater to run away, so that it will not collect and rot the wood. The next stem is then pleached and bent down at the same angle above the previous one and this continues along the hedge. To give the hedge stability, sharpened stakes are sometimes driven into the ground at intervals, with the tips of the pleached stems woven into them. The stakes should be left protruding above the top of the hedge until it has all been laid, as they will be used again in the final stage.

Weaving the Binding

The appearance of hedges varies greatly from one part of Britain to another. Sometimes the brush on the pleached stems is all angled to one side, while in other hedges it is distributed evenly on both sides. Some hedges are planted on top of a bank, the hedge itself being very short. Some are simply left with the pleachers woven around the posts for stability, but others have a final stage which entails putting a binding along the top of the hedge to make an attractive-looking finish and hold the stems in firmly to the supporting stakes. This is done using long thin binders, usually of hazel, which is supple and whippy, woven in pairs or sometimes fours, alternately behind and in front of the tops of the stakes which were left protruding above the sloped stems. When the binding is complete it is tamped down to fit tightly along the top of the hedge, holding everything in place. The hazel binding will eventually rot, but by this time new growth will have come up through the hedge to stabilise it.

Occasional Trees

As the hedge is being laid, large nicely-shaped trees are often left standing at intervals. This breaks up the hedge line and looks attractive, as well as providing shelter and nesting sites for birds. When the hedge is newly laid it is a good idea to trim off lower tree branches to allow in plenty of light, as this will help to encourage the new growth. If there are large gaps where the bent pleachers will not reach, these gaps are sometimes filled with stakes and brushwood cut out during the preparatory stages, but this will soon look unsightly as the dead wood will not regrow with the rest of the hedge. A better solution is to fill the gaps by planting new young hedgerow plants, which will grow up and merge into the laid hedge.

The Finished Hedge

The laid hedge will look neat but rather bare at first, but new shoots will grow up from just below the original cut at the base or from the roots to the side of the stems. These will grow up through the layers and on above the top, improving the stock-proof nature of the hedge and producing flowers and fruit again. The new growth should be lightly trimmed after two years, then every three to five years after that. The hedge laying process turns an untidy, gappy hedge into a neat, stock-proof barrier with fresh young growth and prolongs its life for many years to come.

Only a short length of the hedge in Reg’s Meadow has been laid so far – most of the photographs are from “one I laid earlier” on a college course, and one is from the annual Surrey Hedgelaying Competition. Photos 1, 2, & 5, plus the close-up of a pleached stem and the “occasional trees” were taken in the meadow.

The “occasional trees” shown above in the meadow hedgerow are Field Maples. This is a small native British tree, common across England and Wales, that grows to around 15 metres tall and reaches maturity at around 50 years. It prefers alkaline or chalky soil and is typically found on the edges of deciduous woodland, often growing near oak. It is often planted in hedgerows, where it is a useful addition, as it will stand regular trimming.

Fruiting Keys	Autumn Gold

The seeds appear in June and July and are known as keys. They grow in clusters of flat pairs, which ripen in October and fall in November. Like sycamore keys they are often used by children as “helicopters”, thrown into the air to spiral down, demonstrating the way in which they are dispersed naturally by the wind. The leaves turn a deep yellow in autumn, the brightest of any native British tree.

Alternative names include Common Maple, Hedge Maple and Masarn (Wales). The name Acer means “sharp” or “pungent” and campestre means “of fields”.

The tree is said to support 51 species of wildlife, including honey bees and several species of moth.

In folklore Field Maple is associated with the heart and love and said to bring contentment to those with heavy responsibilities. Carrying a child around the tree or passing it through the branches was believed to bring long life to the child. In Alsatian folklore it was said that bringing branches of field maple into the house would protect against bats and keep nesting storks safe from disturbance!

In medicine a decoction has been used to treat sore eyes, and the astringent bark used to treat gallstones and high cholesterol. The sap contains sugar, which has been concentrated into a syrup or used as a sweetener for food.

The wood is fine-grained but the trees are too small to supply large pieces of timber. It takes a high polish, so is valued by cabinet makers and wood turners. It has an attractive curving pattern of growth rings and has long been used to make musical instruments, such as violins and cellos. Harps have been made from it since Saxon times and a harp frame made from field maple was found in the Sutton Hoo ship burial.

Field maple is efficient as firewood and makes good charcoal.