Janet Baraclough.. wrote in
:

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

I'm not a smallholder though. I just have some hedges. If I *were* a
smallholder I think I'd get them mechanically cut: it's an awfully slow
process if you have hedge surrounding several acres to face.

If you mechanically cut a hedge, you end up with a hedge that's bare
or leggy at the bottom and topheavy at the top. A hedge like that won't
keep out wind or animals. Laying it maintains an even thickness from
ground level to the top, which is a better windbreak, wildlife habitat,
and barrier to dogs/children etc.

It still takes a long time.

I lay my own garden hedges, but you'd need a lot of time and/or help
available to maintain all the hedges on a small farm that way: most people
won't have that, and will at most lay the odd one which has been
particularly neglected and needs thickening up, relying on a mechnical
cutter to do the rest.