Shelter | Flowers | Sowing Holly | Cutting Hedges | Laying Hedges
SHELTER
Hedges are invaluable now as a shelter against the winds when out walking or cycling. They also provide similar shelter for animals, birds and insects, as well as some food.
FLOWERS
Dandelions are still flowering on the hedge banks. The plant produces new leaves at the top of its rosette, then the taproot contracts to pull the rosette down. This keeps the new leaves spread at ground level, killing any competitive plants. The Romans called this plant Dens leonis – or lions tooth. In Greek, it is called Taraxacum officinalis and was used pharmaceutically as a diuretic. You harvest the roots between September and February to make beer or wine.
SOWING HOLLY
Collect the berries and stratify them, sow in the second Spring. To stratify, mix the berries with three times their volume of wet sand and store them in unglazed pots in the garden. Back to top
CUTTING HEDGES
Cut hedges late in January or February. A hedge should be at least 1.8 m (or 6 ft) high; it needs growth at the bottom to give cover for wildlife. An A-shape is best.
The circular saw is better than the flail on heavy growth, as it is good for coppicing – this is where you cut everything to 75 mm above ground. Coppicing on a 6-10 year rotation is effective and economic, leaving other hedges to produce flowers and fruit.
The flail should be used only where there are 2 or 3 years of soft growth. If you use it on heavy woody growth, you will damage the hedge and leave it open to decay through the flayed, raggedly cut branches. Back to top
LAYING HEDGES
This is a good time of year to lay a hedge, laying the branches horizontally (as opposed to vertically) at 50mm from the ground. Hedges are usually laid to the left. You cut with your right hand, supporting the stem with your left. You cut ¾ way through the stem and about 50mm from the ground. Then you lay or bend the branch over in an uphill direction as the sap will not travel downwards. Work on the side that animals cannot reach, to protect new growth.
Hedges with a lot of elderberry and sycamore are not very suitable for laying, as you need to cut them to the butt before starting.
You need straight stems close together. If the branch is very thick, use a bowsaw to cut upward ¾ way through the stem. Then make a notch where you cut using a hatchet and then you can bend it over, with a second person supporting the stem as you twist it down and along the hedge line.
You only need to leave a thin strip of wood and bark, this is enough for the sap to pass through and make the now horizontal branch sprout, creating a new hedge. Back to top
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