Spring - Hedging

After a white frosty start, with a dusting of snow, the sun came out and the day was positively Spring like.

Making the most of such a beautiful day we started on the hedging, a little later in the year than we prefer to. The sycamore had already started to bud, much to the sheep's delight.

The hedges consist mostly of Sycamore and Ash with the occasional Elder. It is the fourth winter we have been cutting the hedges and the benefit of the previous year's work is just beginning to show.

The churchyard hedge we prefer to keep high as it acts as a windbreak, provides shade and privacy. So each year we just cut out any dead wood and the tallest of the trees. This encourages thicker growth, yet still leaves a good height.

The footpath hedge has for years been flayed by the farmer so there isn't much we can do other than take the hedge cutter to it. Each year we cut just below the previous year's growth, again this encourages the plants to shoot lower down thickening the hedge.

Hopefully in a few more years we should have something that resembles good stock proof hedging.