A great Hedgelaying workshop this weekend in Jubilee Wood, Whitehead. Everyone went away with new skills and a new understanding of the importance of traditional hedgelaying techniques.
Laying hedges was an important land management technique for farmers to keep livestock in or out. An unmanaged hedgerow will continue to grow upwards and outwards and become a line of trees, whereas a well-managed hedgerow will become thick and bushy. The cut stems, which are bent over at an angle, prevent sheep pushing through the stakes driven into the hedge and the binding along the top makes the fence strong to resist the weight of cattle.
Laying a hedge also tidies it up and encourages the shrubs to regenerate keeping the hedge bushy and healthy.
Hedges are also really important for wildlife, providing food, shelter and habitat for a wide range of species.
We’ll be hedgelaying again in two weeks time!
