A couple of weeks ago I undertook a short section of hedge-laying for a customer in Haslemere. The hedge itself was actually a row of hazel coppice stools about 30 metres in length and I was asked if I could lay the hazel and make more of a hedgerow feature.

Hazel is nice and easy to lay, although you do have to be careful that the stem doesn’t split upwards as it is laid over. However, as the hazel grows from coppice stools it can quite often produce a ‘gappy’ hedge rather than a conventionally planted hedgerow that has 5 or 6 stems per metre.

However, because the stems had been left nice and long the hedge started to build up nicely as I laid it. Any gaps were hardly noticeable and there was plenty of material to work with.

There was one tricky section where some fencing had been installed right next to the hedge and the hazel had grown up through and around the wire. Some careful cutting was therefore required to free the stems.

I was very pleased with the finished hedge, both in terms of neatness and of the density of the hedge itself. It was especially rewarding to improve an already interesting feature that will also benefit wildlife. Most importantly, the customer was extremely satisfied too.