Hedgelaying Workshop-January 16th 2016

This week we traveled to the Cothele Estate Farm in Cornwall for a

  Hedgelaying Workshop run by Chris.

Our site for the day, one of the horse paddocks.... 

The row of trees alongside the field that we

 focused on laying into a new hedgerow.

A Mixture of different tools can be used within hedge laying, a few of our old faithfuls and some specialised hedge-tailored gear...

Our group for the day which included a few of the estate staff and gardeners...

Chris giving us the team a prep talk on the use of billhooks... 

Billhooks are one of the most effective tools for hedgelaying...

Billhooks come in a variety of shapes and sizes, all depending on the different areas and counties in the UK that they orginate from..

Hedgelaying is an anicent artform that needs to be learnt in order to do properly. 

Luckily Chris is a trained Stonewaller & Hedgelayer, so we were all in good hands...
http://www.stonewalling-hedgelaying.co.uk/

Even the horses in the field were impressed with his skills and knowledge...

With Chris's help it wasn't long before everyone was busy working away...

Although it might look a bit brutal, the trees will repair and reshoot from the tapered stems, therefore forming a natural living hedgerow... 

Different trees mean different wood so some of them can be harder to

 encourage into tapering than others ....

V-shaped pegs called Crooks can be used to help stablise and

 support the newly laid saplings into hedgerow formations...

Whilst hedgelaying can be done alone, a few extra

 pairs of hands can be extremely productive...

Our newly laid section of hedge...

Our hedgelaying certicates awarded by Chris...

Our brilliant hedgelaying team...

Looking forward to coming back later in the year to 

see how our new hedgerow has grown...

Mike-PEA Team