Adam's Garden

A couple of years ago I acquired a new toy, or rather a new second hand toy. A superb hedge trimmer with 24 inch cutting blade, driven by a powerful two stroke engine. This model is better than an electric version, and safer too, thanks to the absence of a cable. I have heard that the electric hedgetrimmer is statistically the most dangerous garden implement and I can certainly believe it because it is hard enough concentrating on the job in hand and balancing, often precariously, atop ladder or scaffold, without the added distraction of keeping an eye out for a cable snaking over the shoulder and across to the nearest power point. The initial outlay was a couple of hundred pounds but in terms of saved labour I have easily recouped that, and it is easy to obtain good results on a hedge even when it is trimmed in great haste or from an awkward angle, both of which were done by me this month.

We have several hedges on the farm, which are trimmed from time to time throughout the growing season. I have discovered the most important thing about a hedge is if you want to keep it trimmed then try to keep it at a manageable height! Once it gets above 6 feet then for safety it is necessary to erect a fairly stable platform, and the increasing width of a large hedge means it has to be cut from both sides. Even if both sides are accessible it doesn't necessarily mean that the job is easy to do. We have a hazel hedge which forms a boundary between a field and the main road and because it is at the end of the drive I try and maintain one stretch at the end neat and tidy and keep it from growing high enough to osbcure the farm sign. Access from the front is easy because the verge is flat and wide enough to support a trestle, but the other side has a drop and a ditch, making the working height about ten feet. With the presence of the ditch there is no means of establishing a level or secure base upon which to work, and this is further complicated by the water that often accumulates in wet weather. There are only two ways of getting into position to trim the hedge from this side. The first is to solicit help from another person to drive a tractor with a front end loader, upon which there is safe a stable platform to tackle the job. By moving slowly along the hedge it is very easy and quick to get it cut. However, this does rely on having someone else to assist! The other method I employ is to wedge a tower scaffold across the ditch. This is a lot more time consuming because the scaffold is too heavy and awkward to move along the uneven ground and has to be taken down and reassembled in order to progress. It is impossible to get it completely level but as long as all four feet are touching the ground and the tilt is not too great the job can de done satisfactorily.

Another hedge that acts as a boundary between road and field is on the other side of the lane, but this time it is common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) which I have found to be almost the perfect hedging material. Although it is deciduous the twiggy branches grow so densely that it is impenetrable to any animal. The spines, whilst not as tough and dangerous as those of blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), are certainly strong enough to effectively deter anything wishing to breach the barrier. They do not make it too difficult to manage the clippings however. Something that could not be said of blackthorn! We do have a great number of blackthorn trees on the farm, mostly growing in the hedgerows between fields, but I would never use them for formal hedging. They do look attractive with their multitude of tiny white flowers sparkling in spring and the dusty purple sloes in autumn but what thorny spines! They are the perfect defensive weapon - sharp enough to penetrate even the toughest of gloves and with a nasty habit of snapping off once driven deep into the hand and the very devil to get out again. The hawthorn also cuts nicely to shape, once again thanks to the densely packed thin branches. This particular hedge is kept about six feet high so is easily accessible from a trestle and once again I cut it from both sides as it is about four feet in width. It is actually positioned outside a sheepwire fence, mainly to hide the wire, and it did take a while to establish because escaped animals ate off the young shoots when the trees were saplings. They find the young shoots tasty but cannot palate the older, tougher growth.

The most troublesome of our hedges is a six foot Berberis barrier. I certainly wouldn't grow a Berberis hedge again because the clippings are a nuisance to deal with on account of the needle-like spines. Admittedly this particular hedge was planted to keep sheep out of an area which has subsequently become the millennium garden, and was chosen because of its defensive qualities, and I should therefore have no cause for complaint, but I always approach the job of trimming this hedge with great trepidation because multiple stab wounds are inevitable! The clippings have to be picked up for shredding and even when the greatest of care is taken the fine sharp spikes have an uncanny knack of finding their mark. They are usually double-shredded to break them down enough for quick composting. The shredder is an ideal companion tool for the hedge trimmer, greatly reducing the size of the offcut pile and preparing them for the compost heap at the same time.

There are a couple of stretches closer to the house where I am intending to establish a hedge in the near future and there are a number of different varieties of trees and shrubs that would make good material, the only difficulty being to decide on which one! My inclination is to go for common hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) which is similar to beech, retaining dead leaves in winter and quite traditional, but it may take a long time to reach a decent size, being a slow growing hardwood. It would be a nice idea to replicate a natural hedge and plant mixed species but this could be rather problematic because natural hedges tend to look rather uneven and do grow quite large. There is a medlar tree (Mespilus germanica) in the garden which is a traditional natural hedgerow tree but it does have a very sprawling habit, draping its branches over the shrubs around it and I don't know how good it would look when kept cut back. I have a couple of suckers in a nursery bed which I separated from the parent a couple of years ago and these are growing in an upright manner. The parent reached about 6 foot before spreading out so I would guess that it would make a natural hedge of this height, but it would probably be necessary to interplant with other trees like field maples and hawthorns to provide support for the clambering branches. A holly hedge would be an awesome sight but once again would be very slow to reach a good size.

Quite in fashion at the moment is the practise of willow sculpture, using green stems that subsequently root and produce shoots. It might be fun to make an instant hedge using this technique starting off with a simple hurdle type fence and quickly evolving into a proper hedge. The small leaves of the willow and the fine branches would lend themselves to the task but when mature the hedge may be a little dull.

Whichever variety I settle on my trusty hedgetrimmer will be there at the ready, doing the thing that all of us gardeners like best - saving time. Time that is much better spent relaxing in the garden, enjoying the fruits of our labours, preferably with a cold drink on a summer's day, or a balmy autumn evening. Let's hope there are plenty of those coming up!

You can find more articles in the archive under Soiled Hands.

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