More than 25 years in the making..
In the beginning, when the perimeter hedge was planted in 1998, it seemed a good idea to include hornbeam as it can be easily clipped and shaped. It is an excellent hedge plant with dense, green foliage that acts as a windbreak. In autumn, the leaves turn an attractive yellow, with the added bonus that they are retained through much of the winter.
The west facing and south facing hedges were expertly laid by Ralph Berry and Ted Alexander in 2006 and 2007, respectively, but the east facing section of the Garden was allowed to grow naturally and the hornbeam trees, in particular, became far too tall to be suitable for hedge laying.
The laying of this hedge had been on the Trustees’ agenda for a number of years. In 2024, the hedge was thinned out considerably and early in 2025 the hornbeam trees were coppiced. Finally, in February 2025, Ted began the hedge laying process and by March 10th. it was finished. It looks superb, as this photo testifies.
A bit of history
Hedges have acted as boundaries since Saxon times, although the Saxons had “dead” hedges, so called because they consisted of branches cut from woodland trees and placed into the ground as stakes. These were then interwoven with hazel twigs, so a Saxon hedge would have resembled a modern sheep hurdle! Such hedges were constructed throughout the Middle Ages but more permanent hedges of live seedlings replaced them as field boundaries.
In medieval times the maintenance of the hedge was the responsibility of the hedger, who had three simple tools for his work - a hand-rake to clear the undergrowth, a billhook to cut back the thorn bushes and split the hawthorn stems down to the rootstocks and the mallet to hammer in the poles to support the stems.
