Stephen Howard wrote in message . ..
On 20 Aug 2003 16:48:28 -0700, (rob w) wrote:

We have at the bottom of our new garden a very old hawthorn hedge,
this is very thick and quite tall but the bottom 3 to 4 feet is bare
and quite open.
It would be very easy to crawl through. My question is can this hedge
be thickened up or should I remove and replant, I have heard of laying
it over but the bottom trunks are very thick and I’m not sure if
this will work.
Any thoughts / advise gratefully accepted.


I've seen pretty thick hawthorn trunks split and laid over along the
lanes round here, but I rather get the impression it's something
that's harder to do than it looks.
One of the guys was using a very unusual 'machete', with a sort of
raised section on the upper part of the blade - could this be the key
to a successful job?
I did try a spot of laying myself, and the results ( although they
worked, eventually ) looked pretty awful for a time. I think you have
to be quite brave about it.


Another option is to interplant. A 'proper' Hawthorn hedge ought to be
interwoven with a variety of species.
My own hedges contain a mix of Hawthorn, Holly, Yew, Box, Ash and
Chestnut ( the latter two I wouldn't advise planting voluntarily ).
Box is particularly good for filling out the lower regions of a hedge.

For extra interest, chuck in something unusual - like a Redcurrant.

The slashing tool Stephen mentions is, surprisingly, called a
"slasher"! In essence, it's a hedging bill on a long handle; but it
sounds as though you need a logging saw here.

If it's gappy, I think his interplanting idea is best: for hedging
purposes you can get the young plants cheaply from, e.g. Buckingham
Nurseries: don't even think about the garden centre!

Blackthorn's nice in a hedge, but it spreads a lot. Long-tailed tits
like it. The red currant idea is terrific: gooseberries, too.
Primroses, snowdrops, and lungwort on the north side, ramsons if it's
moist; bluebells, of course.

In winter, and not before, I'd cut the old hawthorns down to six
inches from the ground. Whether or not they'll all sprout again at
their age, I'm not entirely sure, but they've clearly got to go
anyhow.

I'd also work in some bonemeal and a bit of compost or rotted muck, as
the soil's probably tired.

Except for the fun of it, there's no need to use traditional laying,
which is designed to produce a stock-proof barrier: to do it right you
need to buy in some stakes, and once the individual trees have got as
big as yours there won't be enough long wands to bend over and weave
in. Ordinary garden hedge-cutting rules will give you as good-looking
a hedge.

She'll be Jake, mate!

Mike.