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The benefits of hedge-laying

Why are hedges so important? Lunt Meadows Heritage and Conservation Trainee, Amy Birtles, explains what hedge-laying is and why it's so great for wildlife.

Hedgelaying is a traditional country skill and art form, used for hundreds of years to maintain healthy hedgerows in the UK. It involves partially cutting down young trees so they can lie at an angle while still growing from the base. This allows the hedges to become thicker and healthier than a standard trimmed hedge, making better livestock barriers and creating habitat for wildlife.

Hedgelaying basics

Hedgelaying is an old art that has changed through the years, with many varied styles and techniques, including regional styles which differ from county to county. This country craft should only be practiced in winter, when sap stops running through the tree stems.

Here is a brief insight into the process of laying a hedge:

  • Cut into the tree at a steep angle, about three quarters of the way through the trunk.
  • Carefully lay the tree over, trying not to snap the trunk - instead bending to approximately 45 degrees.
  • Cut off the remaining heel of the trunk, so that the hedge can re-grow from the base and create healthy new foliage.
  • Use stakes inserted into the ground to weave fallen trees into a hedgerow. Broken or protruding branches can be woven in to create a thicker barrier.
  • Repeat every five to 50 years.
A hedge of twisted tree branches in a field, supported by pale wooden posts

Why choose hedgelaying?

Hedgelaying was first recorded by Julius Caesar nearly 2,000 years ago, when he described encountering thick, woven hedges in Belgium. Hedgelayers were respected craftsmen up until the 20th century, when the art was lost to mechanised hedge-trimming and barbed wire fences. But what makes hedgelaying better than these other options?

While wire fences provide an effective barrier to livestock, they offer no protection or benefit to wildlife. Hedgerows in the UK host a massive variety of wildlife that depends on these narrow strips of wilderness to feed, breed and thrive. The thickly-woven branches of a well-laid hedge can prove just as strong a barrier to sheep and cattle, whilst simultaneously offering prime habitat to birds and small mammals including:

Hedgelaying diversifies the habitat that rural Britain has to offer.

A brown hairstreak butterfly standing on a leaf with its wings closed, displaying its white markings

Brown hairstreak by Philip Precey

Regular hedges (ones which are simply trimmed from the outside) seem to offer equal benefits to laid hedges. Unfortunately, they are similar in appearance only. Cutting hedges at the base promotes new strong growth which will revitalise the hedge as a whole, and replace any parts which may die off. Trimming hedges, however, never offers a chance for new growth, leaving hedgerows to hollow out and weaken. Cattle make holes in these hedges by leaning on them, while sheep can push through the sparse growth underneath. Often, trimmed hedges are used in combination with barbed wire fences to combat this issue, but this doesn’t provide the same shelter or ecological benefit to wildlife.

Coppicing is the other alternative to hedgelaying which is conducive to a healthy hedgerow. This process involves cutting trees and shrubs down completely to the base, so they may regrow stronger and larger. The reason coppicing is not more widely used is the re-growth time; after coppicing your hedges you will have no barrier for several years until the hedgerow can re-grow. Hedgelaying offers the same benefits of coppicing while also promising a sturdy barrier throughout the process.

A properly laid hedge needs no additional fencing, and will remain impenetrable year-round. In addition, hedgelaying creates vital habitat and gives shelter to wildlife that no other option can rival. The time and skills that hedgelaying requires are well worth the benefits to people and wildlife, which is why this age-old skill is still around and slowly regaining popularity.

A dead hedge, where tree branches are woven through wooden posts, at the edge of a woodland

Hedgelaying as a woodland boundary

Different styles of hedgelaying

While all instances of hedgelaying have the same effect, the appearance of a completed hedgerow can vary hugely. When hedgelaying was still in its heyday, many counties in England had their own unique style and technique. These were tailored partially to the purposes of hedgerows, depending on the location or type of livestock they were designed for. More than 30 different styles of hedgelaying have been recorded across the UK.

One changeable element is the use of binders. These are horizontal whips of hazel or other green wood which connect the upright stakes, supporting laid hedges. The use of binders gives added strength to hedgerows, and also offers an opportunity for the hedgelayer to showcase their own personal style and flair. Binders can be intricately woven into highly decorative styles, making hedgerows into beautiful features as well as wildlife havens.

The Yorkshire style of hedgelaying creates a very low and dense hedge, suitable for enclosing sheep in windy areas. The Midland style is quite different; designed for keeping bulls secure, the hedges are strongly bound to fight against twisting horns, and new growth is pointed outwards so it’s less threatened by the grazing animals. Lancashire-style hedgelaying features two rows of stakes, with the bulk of the hedge in the middle. Smaller branches are pulled out and woven around the stakes to secure the hedgerow in place.

Alder branches woven between wooden posts to make a hedge at Lunt Meadows

Alder hedge at Lunt Meadows

Hedgelaying at Lunt Meadows

A recent volunteer work party completed a hedgelaying activity at Lunt Meadows. A stretch of 5-year-old, 2-3m-tall alder trees were laid to form a new hedgerow. The primary reason for this work was to aid ground-nesting birds which may choose to breed in the surrounding areas. The trees' height originally allowed crows and other corvids to sit scouting for eggs and chicks to eat, stopping breeding birds from nesting in the surrounding areas. The trees' height needed to be dramatically reduced to protect the breeding pairs.

So, rather than coppicing or trimming the trees, volunteers laid them into a hedgerow. This created new habitat for birds and mammals, while fulfilling our conservation goals and allowing staff and volunteers to learn a traditional craft, passed down through generations.

Conservation at Lunt Meadows is made possible thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund supporting our Presenting Mesolithic and Modern Life Project. A partnership between Lancashire Wildlife Trust, the Museum of Liverpool, University of Chester and Crosby Soroptimists, the project aims to improve the visitor experience and the quality of wildlife habitat at Lunt Meadows.

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