dead hedges

[splodger]

there is an area in our woods that i'd like to put some dead hedges - just wondered if any of you would like to post some pictures of your dead hedges please

i'd really like to know / see - what efforts people go to when "building" these - as my ideas / designs for this particular area are going to be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional and wildlife friendly and i just wonder if it's really worth all the faffing (i'm thinking of making bundles - from brash and incorporating these into a loosely woven fence (fixed/made in situ)

so can i see some pics please of you dead hedges

[Rich]

Hi Splodger,
I've done several dead hedges and it really depends on what you want it to do, as to how much effort you go to. This one was for a customer who had a lollypop overstood hedge which couldn't be layed, so I coppiced it and used it to make a screen to give their garden some privacy whilst the new hedge grew up. It's surprising how much material you need for something like this, way more than we could get out of a 25ft overstood hedge! It helped having a stand of birch close by we could use to add to it. This one was made with a single row of chestnut posts spaced at 2 forearms, and the brash weaved in and out.



If you're doing it in the wood, you'd probably be better making a double row of posts about 2 foot apart and heaping your material in there. I usually put it around the outside of deer fencing when coppicing, it stops them getting under the fence and they won't be able to get close enough to jump it.



I think the most important thing is to have materials close by!

[splodger]

thanks rich

dad usually just throws brash up against the wire fences, but concentrates on the bottom of the wire - to deter fox and rabbit etc - but it looks so scruffy and doesn't really work - that's why i'd like to do an area myself - because he can't be doing with creative faffing about

there is a fair bit of brash to hand in the area that i'd like to start in - it will only be a short stretch of dead hedge to begin with - and not too high (maybe 3 ft or so high) and it will go on the inside of our boundary / deer fence

i want it to look "nice" as it will be in view of our nice neighbours on the sunny side of the wood

it's main job will be to stop our chickens from popping through the wire - they go into the naighbours to eat the grass and to nick their grapes - the chooks love their grapes and vine leaves

i was thinking of using pea stick type material - and tie it into tight bundles - then position them vertically along the fence line, using a few woven rods to hold them in place

it might end up being too much of an effort - but i'd like to give it a go

[splodger]

badgers are bulldozers

[Rich]

good pictures rich, can I ask, on the double stake idea with brash in between, how long would you expect this to last?

Depends what it is really, if it's birch and hornbeam, hazel etc it will probably drop about a foot a year. Chestnut brash might last a bit longer, but small twiggy stuff it fairly short lived, just keep topping it up if you can!

[Dexter's Shed]

after seeing this post and watching u tube, we started a "test" dead hedge, simply made from Hazel stakes, so far it's held up really well, and were now just making more stakes from the hazel we cut back in Feb, but the mrs has now seen woven Hazel panels and is liking that idea too

http://youtu.be/7jMeGnufFto

am just learning how to edit time lapse pictures, and have joined two lots of files together, quite funny that you see the stakes being put in, then in a split second its filled with brushwood, and us moving twice as fast

[Dexter's Shed]

like many new woodland owners out there, when we purchased Goose Wood back in Feb, we didn't have any idea where to start.
One of our first attempts was to construct a form of dead hedge, after see pictures on here of other members work, it seemed a great way to use the Hazel coppice that needed removing along the pathways we were cutting, we did around 8ft or so, just to see if we could replicate what we had seen in pictures



well after adding the bridge over the seasonal run off ditch, we thought it would be a good idea to extend the hedge more, you will have seen those pictures in a previous post, anyhow we organised a work party with a few friends and got stuck in, we already had lots of cut hazel stacked up from clearing our pathways and camp site area, so it was just a case of dragging it all around to our boundary entrance, the flooring, which has a high clay content was as hard as nails, and we needed to use the post basher to get the uprights in place, so any further work will be left until the wet seasons, as they then tap in with a log hammer, but we are pleased with it so far, I did a little hedge laying into it, as a hawthorn bush was growing right on the fence line, and we have added a couple of ash gate posts, they still need banging in a bit more and cutting down to size, and then a simple horizontal locking bar/trunk put in place, although we do not get any visits from unwanted people, its more of a statement to the local pheasant rearers that use other bits of the wood

[Andy M]

Looking good, but can't help feeling that ash is not the most durable timber when in contact with the ground. I know you have to go with what is available, but I suspect that in a couple of years you will be looking for a bit of oak or chestnut.

[Dexter's Shed]

thanks for that info, a good reason for forum's, to pass on knowledge,

[Landpikey]

Dexter,
Cracking pictures as usual!!

How much has the hedge dropped since you put it in earlier in the year? I know Rich (I think) mentioned a foot a year and I was wondering if you'd seen the same.

Also - how thick have you made it? Would it be dog proof?

Cheers
Landpikey