A bit of Hedging

With a few spare moments of time at the cider mills before we start bottling the '08 ciders, our attention has turned to a bit of orchard management. In particular, the long overdue job of re-laying the south east hedge at our Knowles St Giles Orchard, which had got slightly out of control.

Re-laying a hedge is a skillful job and is one of the vital and often forgotten skills needed in the countryside. We've cheated a little here and employed a couple of local hedge-layers, but hey, if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly.

The theory behind hedge laying is really to remove any unwanted growth, which in this case was preventing light and air circulating into the orchard. The re-layed hedge should also encourage new growth, to improve the structure and strength of the hedge. This is done by cutting out much of the high or dense stems of the hedgerow and laying them horizontal, which acts as a kind of frame, holding the hedge into a tighter, more dense shape and guiding new growth.

The re-layed hedge should hopefully not only act as an adequate boundary and provide shelter for the orchard but should also allow more light and airflow to reach the south east corner of the orchard, benefiting our apples trees. This should equate to larger yield of Browns apples next year.

Well-managed hedgerows are also vital to encourage wildlife habits, not only protecting the many creatures which rely on hedgerows but also improving the orchard as a whole. A rich, well-balanced ecosystem should lead to improved pollination of the apple trees, as well as reducing the need for chemical sprays, by naturally combating problem pests.