No sooner had the New Year started and I joined the SOEHLS once again for another day of hedge-laying. This time we were at Forest Green, near Leith Hill and it was a complete contrast to the one we tackled at Crowborough a month before. The hedge on this site was more of a thicket, with much sucker growth from the blackthorn spreading out into the field. In places it was getting on for 10 feet wide and deciding on a sensible line to follow proved a bit tricky.

However, it wasn’t too long before we had separated the ‘wheat from the chaff’ and a nice looking laid hedge materialized. The young blackthorn, hawthorn and dogwood should now thicken up into a substantial hedgerow in a few years time.

As always, it was great to catch up with fellow members of the SOEHLS. I wonder what next month’s hedge will have in store for us?