How are your hedgerows?

We are happy enough with the majority of ours which are within the farm except for one that borders a neighbour and it could do with a little tlc. The problem is that most of the hedge grows on their side with the ditch/gripe/sheugh on our side. Over the years most of the whitethorn and elder has fallen over to our side (due to prevailing winds) onto the electric fence. We don't worry about it as the farmer is a older batchelor man and doesn't like to cut any of the fairy/ancient trees.

We don't cut our hedgerows but I do trim behind the electric fence with a old Bamford flail more so to control briars encroaching on the electric fence. I've previously posted pics in the GLAS thread showing some of our internal hedgerows.

I enjoyed reading the article that you linked and noted that Britain boasts about 700,000 klms of hedgerows which really pales into insignificance when you realise that we in Ireland have 689,000 klms of hedgerows - https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/daily/environment/mapping-irish-hedgerows.php

Good point there @Bass Reeves. Maybe it's not too late for them to officially form part of each farms contribution. There has to be benefit to it in some way.

Saw does a better job if going bare as that, flail bashes ends too much. Everyone prob thinks the way they maintain their own hedges is the best but a lot are of little benefit to nature

Where there are still old hedges they are fantastic, thick to 20 feet high and full of mature ashes, they have the sides strimmed as high as I can and deep wide base left every few years. The rare few.

The rest are 4 feet but daily growing.

A few years makes a difference.

Push them over with a digger. Ideally you should cut them 1/2 to 3/4 through with a chainsaw which is the GLAS instruction. Take out a bit of the heavy wood and branches. The complete trunk of the bush will sprout new growth. The hedge is virtually stock proof from day one but I still fenced the one I did with electric fence. It works very well where cattle have been in and out through a hedge and there is only mature whitethorn bushes ever 6-10 feet. You may have to interplant of there is gaps.

Ah right I understand you now. I'm not in GLAS nor any other scheme other than BPS.

I might try a bit of suitable hedgerow with that method and see how it works.

I remember watching Countryfile a few years ago and there was a bit in it about planting and weaving some of the hedging. It looked fairly thick after they had finished which is always the aim.

You can get a hood for a knapsack sprayer nozzle. This allows you to spray around the plants. I be slow to put down plastic around plants because you have to get rid of later. I used to spray it twice a year I think. However I had bought good strong quicks (18-24'' plants) and they were very strong at the start of the third year.

Yea, teh plastic disappears after a while, perishes etc and the grass grows up through it.

whitethorn thrives on nitrogen so if you're someone that pelts the fertililiser into teh ditches they grow very well.

I've a hood for a knapsack and I stiill seem to kill plants, maybe it hits the roots or the tender bark absorbs it

Either coppice it or lay it properly (with billhook, hatchet and/or saw , not with track machine) and fill in any gaps with new plants after.

Hedge laying is an amazing skill to see done correctly. There are different styles of hedge laying in the UK. Some are laid to the side with hazel rods hammered in acting like posts with willow woven above them, a true art, would love to learn a bit more about it.

Coppicing and filling in any gaps after is equally valid a method. The cycle of hedge renewal is neglected too much today. Doesn't have to be any way complex

You see it too in some areas where the whitethorn gets to the point of having no vigour left and just becomes overrun with ivy.

But plenty of hedges destroyed by flails also

What is wrong with that if you don't mind me asking. We don't cut the top of the hedges and let them grow on including ivy growing on trees, whitethorn and briars/dog roses/other stuff etc growing within the hedge. Ivy is an import food source for wild bees and other insects in Autumn/early Winter. We use electric fences both sides of the hedges/ditches to control livestock and we don't keep sheep.

I think the key there is eventually, it wont happen overnight or the one year it's not cut back. All in all I'd like to encourage ivy as much as I could, good nectar source for bees and good berries for birds.

Would ye ever attempt hedge laying yereselves? A local man did it here a few years ago and destroyed the hedge altogether, it was copper beech, less than 10% of them survived after him