February 2021
Millow, Dunton near Biggleswade. 45 yards elm, hawthorn and privet.
Shaded by taller trees and sparse in places but tall enough for a good South of England hedge.
Two separate sections of hedge either side of two splendid lime trees, before...
...and after
View from gate at end of hedge before...
Predominantly privet with some elm here, the hedge has been laid back towards the gate to give a square finish. Stakes and binders are essential to hold it all together.
Running the binders to the gatepost secures the last stake and end of the hedge
View from other direction. There is loads of ivy in the first section but enough tall elm and hawthorn rising above it to make a hedge. Before...
..and after. The hedge was laid in both directions towards the gate between the lime trees to best use the material available.
Close-up looking from far end of hedge...
...view looking the other way
View showing the beautiful lime trees
Moorend Common 54 yards, Midland style. Planted by the client, this tall but slender hawthorn made a fine laid hedge and keeps deer out of the garden.
It had to be laid whilst the bees were still dormant!
Looking from client's beehives back to house, before...
...and after
View from garden towards beehives, before...
...and after
Start of hedge by gate, before...
...and after
This and the next image were taken from the same point looking one way to show what I am starting with...
...and the other to show what I am creating
Another view looking towards the house, before...
...and after
Binding really highlights a curved hedge line. The angled cuts on the top of the stakes show one way...
...and the trimmed butt end of the binders show looking the other way
General view of completed hedge
Quainton Nature garden. 30 yards sparse elm and hawthorn
The Nature Garden is a pleasant site that mostly allows nature to do its thing but this section of the boundary hedge desparately needed restoration
Typical of an old hedge that has been flailed to the same height for many years producing a gappy row of sticks with just a wispy bit of brush on top, it actually remained very healthy.
Laid using widely spaced stakes since there was no need to bind it.
View from start of hedge, before...
...and after
View from end of hedge, before...
...and after
I was surprised to see a bat flying around in the middle of the day in February.
It was a nice sunny day following a very icy spell and it spent quite a long time feeding.
Before its exended period of flailing, this hedge had been laid first in one direction and then the other way as the tell-tale zig-zag at the base of this stem shows.
Inevitably from the material available, a very low hedge resulted but it is all tied together nicely and read to sprout from the base once more.
Completed hedge looking the other way with some privet in the foreground
Not much happens in the village that doesn't make it into the monthly Quainton News, so I found my way into the March 2021 issue!