Hope I can get some tips. I've read a fair bit and even spent time with the local land-owner's son laying a hedge, but when I tried today, the wood split in the middle, running upwards. I know I don't want this to happen, but what causes this?
You are probably bending your pleacher too quickly, before you have got sufficiently far through the wood. If you go too far it will break, try supporting the stem as you cut, or get an assistant to hold it and gradually lower it once you have enough flex in the stem.
It was about 4/5 inches thick and I was about two thirds of the way through. I did hack the heel off too whilst cutting it, would having left this avoided this problem?
In my defense, it was a tricky one because it was just one of a hazel coppice which had been growing for a long time and more than half of the stems were firewood thickness.
by J G Hunter » Sun Feb 08, 2015 5:10 pm