Hedge laying is an old practise that was used predominantly on hedges as a border for farmers fields. It enables hedgerows to re-generate whilst keeping livestock in or keeping the field boundary. When a hedge gets to a certain age, if not maintained, it can become “gappy” at the bottom and less effective as security or as a barrier for livestock. By laying it, it strengthens the bottom of the hedge and stops this happening for years to come. A hedge that has been laid, especially something thorny such as Hawthorne (Crataegus monogyna) is much harder to get through at the base compared to a hedge that has been left to leave gaps at the base. This makes it better as a security measure.

For best results hedge cutting is normally carried out towards the end of summer (august or September). This enables the hedge to hold its cut look for most of the rest of the year. However, sometimes it needs doing at other times of the year and we are happy to accommodate that need, for whatever reason. We have been contacted before by people urgently needing a hedge to look good for a party or other occasions and we have been happy to oblige.

Depending on preference some of our customers prefer to have the hedge trimmed twice a year to guarantee that it holds that neat, trimmed look. Depending on the hedge, leaving a hedge uncut longer than a year can cause it to grow so much that you can never get it back to looking as tight and as neat as it once was. This is often the case with cuprocyparis leylandii.

There are some cases when hedges have got out of control and been left to there own devices. We also specialise at tackling these and have been involved in many projects where we have coppiced* the hedge to re-generate and grow from the ground making it easy to manage from then on. By bringing in state of the art machinery we can make small work of large hedges. This means less time spent on the job and less disruption to you. Not all hedges can do this so in other cases we have planted a new hedge, weather the same or different species.