Dead Hedging

[dinosaw]

Have recently been securing and stock proofing our boundary at the top end and after doing some hazel hedge laying I stumbled across an article on dead hedging and decided to give it a go as I had a load of off cuts from shrubs and trees I had cut back after many years of them being allowed to go wild. I have posted this as it is really easy to do provided you have some offcuts from your hedge/trees/shrubs and no matter what size your garden is you could make one of these rather than take a trip to the tip, the upside being that it provides a great habitat for birds and insects and as it rots down you simply top it up with next years material. This one was made with 6ft high 2inch posts placed 2ft apart in width and 3ft apart in length, but to make a smaller one you could use tree stakes set at much shorter intervals, you simply fill the gap between the posts with your cuttings putting the heavier ones generally at the top to push the material down. I'm sure this will prove an utterly useless bit of information to most people but from my point of view it has given me a nice light stock proof barrier which only cost circa £6 per m, will act as a repository for future garden cuttings and a habitat for wildlife and IMO looks nicer than stock mesh into the bargain.

 

[MrsBiscuit]

Well ..... I see the hedge and I think kindling, there's quite a bit of wood in there But then again I have spent time yesterday and today collecting pine cones for the fire for the autumn :lol:

Seriously though, I do stuff my hedge clippings under the hedges which are in front of the stock fencing, I don't want to burn it as a bonfire, and it makes a bit of a barrier against the fox and plenty of cover for smaller mammals and insects. You've got a lovely spot there

 

[rick]

Reminds me of the the method of piling the brash around a clearing in forestry to protect the microclimate in the surrounding woodland floor. Cool!

 

[dinosaw]

Your quite right there MrsBiscuit, I have to admit that if I had any chimneys most of it probably would have gone up in smoke this winter but strangely for a 50's built rural property it is all central heating so nothing doing there. From what I remember of Portuguese pine cones you wouldn't need many to start a fire they are huge!, I can imagine them going up a real treat

 

[Marigold]

Very impressed by these photos, Dinosaw. There's a goodly length of it along that side as well. Was it difficult to get the posts into the ground strongly enough to support the weight of the brushwood?

 

[dinosaw]

It was quite easy Marigold, especially compared to the 3-4" posts I had been ramming for the stock mesh which were a different story altogether. I used a manual post rammer and they went in quickly down to about 20 inches which is about as far as anything will go in round here without digging a hole, a mallet would get them in but would obviously take a bit longer. Best if you can get someone to hold a post for you and then they won't go in wonky like some of mine.