Novice Hedge Layers welcome in the spring

On Saturday 28^th February we held a novice hedge laying competition at Harcourt Arboretum where 36 competitors worked to rejuvenate 180m of hedge over the course of 5 hours.

It was the perfect way to welcome in the spring and, with over 1300 visitors that day, the pressure was on for the competitors.

Working singly or in pairs, they used two style of hedge laying: the Midland style, which is cut close on one side, and left bushy on the livestock side; and the Southern style which is trimmed but left bushy on both sides, so-called ‘double-brush’.

The 1^st place winners and supreme winners were:

South of England style pairs – Robert Dunbar and Jeremy Handley from Chilterns Society Rough around the Hedges hedgelaying group

South of England style singles – Kai Meredith from Chilterns Society Rough around the Hedges hedgelaying group

Midland style pairs – Paddy Sexton and Jonathan Cload

Midland style singles – Manfred Pegram from Chilterns Society Rough around the Hedges hedgelaying group

Supreme single – Kai Meredith

Supreme pairs – Paddy Sexton and Jonathan Cload

It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm for this traditional countryside management technique, among the young and the old. Healthy hedges play a vital role in nature restoration and land management with numerous benefits for both farming and wildlife so these sorts of events are really important.

Thanks to Wild Oxfordshire and University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum for helping to make this happen, with special thanks to Nigel Adams from the Four Counties Hedge Network.