WOODLAND LIFE - EPISODE 5: We roll back the years with this incredible traditional skill that dates back well over a thousand years! Really enjoyed this one despite the hard graft involved. Follow along on the woodland life series here: kzfaq.info/sun/PLxnadpeGdTxCwRkZTLMhjbT_EAu6bAIZy Thanks for watching!!

This was like a documentary, I really enjoyed this episode! I imagine that the barbwire fence will eventually get lost in the growth? You might want to consider a written journal of the working this woodland which would record the history of what you are doing here. Great video!

I’m gonna pause this just to say: As someone who never even knew what a billhook was until I saw someone hedging, I was vaguely interested. Then I was really interested. But they were all so expensive. Then I saw one by Fiskars (a scissor company) on clearance at a local department store at the end of spring and decided to try it. I will never go back. I will never be without. When this one (I actually have two) dies I will replace it with an expensive version that will last lifetimes. Even if just for how easy they make tackling a bramble patch.

We used to live in a rural part of Hertfordshire and see hedging being done. I can remember my Dad talking with one of the hedgers and hearing him show and tell my Dad what he was doing - Thick as a Lamb's ear! He said was how to cut the branch before folding it down! He had walking sticks that he made from the thinnings he had cut out. Still have one and you can see how the wood regrew to fill in the piece cut out! Beautiful process! Really very efficient!

So great to see neighbours working well together sharing boundries.

A Yorky was my preferred hedging hook, used two handed it has the heft to cut fairly thick timber, whilst also having the balance to go an agile one handed tool. The curved bill gives an extended reach when pulling branches towards you, and the vee also provides an extended reach when pushing brush and branches away. Yorkies are initially more tiring to learn to use due their heavier weight and the potential for more forceful blows, but it's not too long until it just feels like an extension of your arm. The hook and vee then become a real advantage for quickly manipulating stock, in comparison I found that when using a Southern Counties I was constantly putting the billhook down to free my hand to move the stock. On thorn hedges the extended reach and manipulation offered by the Yorky avoided a lot of cuts and scratches. It's been decades since my hedgelaying days, but credit to you Mike... for a relative beginner your making a decent job of it, and by the time you've completed your boundaries you skills will have hugely improved! Great video, fantastic objective to share and encourage the craft, and a total pleasure to watch! Where you have wide gaps you can cut short lengths of bark from the lower face of the layed pleach and then peg it down against bare earth. Hazel will form roots at these contact points, eventually creating new stools.

Reading lord of the rings and hearing them talk about the great hedge along the old forest now I have a visual representation of what "the hedge" is thank you for this 👍🤯

It has been good to watch you and your dad do a bit of traditional hedge laying!

I recently started doing this type of fencing at my house here is the US. And billhook is probably my favorite machete I've ever bought.

BBC ain’t got nothin on TA outdoors. Wonderful doc gents.

Since I’ve learned about the hedge rows from WW2, and their effectivity against tanks, I’ve been fascinated with the “how” it was done, but not so much the “why”. It’s a departure from the lava rock walls that were hand built by the Hawaiians, but for a very long time, I’ve believed traditional English hedges to be a viable border when I decide to buy acreage either in the continental US or back in Hawaii. Thank you for the educational video on both the how and why hedges were created and used.

It's nice to to see the old ways still being used keep up the great work 👍🇬🇧

I love the way you and your father get on with each other. My dad turned 90 yesterday so he has slowed down quite a bit, but when I get home we still go out and cut wood or do other projects together.

Great series of video here. We need way more people like you guys here in France, too few of us fight to keep our woodlands healthy

Brings back some great memories from back in to 90's. The most satisfaction I've ever had laying a hedge.

Thank you for your time in showing traditional hedge laying. I lived in a small village in Northamptonshire for the first 14 years of my life, the village was surrounded by a forest and farms. In the 70s I had the pleasure of witnessing the farmers doing traditional hedge laying. It looks a lot better than barb wire. Keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing your hard work paying off.

Love it when Grahams pottering about in the background

Nice to see that this old technique is still used!

Thanks for showing - I've never seen this kind of method here in northern germany, though we have lots of hedges too. We don't lay them, just cut them down every seventh year, leaving one big tree every 50m and two or three small ones in between. The hedges are dividers, wind protection, habitat for insects, birds and small mammals. They raise the water level as well and create a positive micro-climate. They were called "poor mans forest". Small farms couldn't afford to grow a forest, but whenever you need a piece of wood for a broom, a handle or something, you can cut it out of the hedge. As you need a lot of small stuff, but only once in a while big trees to turn into lumber for a new house or barn, you need to maintain a matching set of wood of different sizes. The cutoffs we taken as firewood. As all the rocks and cobbles they found on the field were thrown in there, over the years they made a nice wall between the fields, preventing the soil to get washed away in heavy rainstorms. Sadly, many of them got removed when machines (and fields) grew bigger, but they lost the benefits as well, which they recently started to discover. Seems like climate change will bring more heavy rain and long lasting droughts, both can be attenuated by proper hedges. Keep up your hard work, it's well worth while!

I learned to lay hedges years ago, in a few different styles. They're a thing of beauty if done properly, and make incredible hedges. Another great vid Mike.

What a blessing to have your dad to work side by side with. Creating that natural hedgerow is brilliant. And yes nothing is better that the sights, sounds and smells of a woodland in all four seasons. Except owning your own woodland for yourselves and the next generation you’re creating as well. Thanks so much for allowing us to share this wonderful journey with you.

One minute in, love the craft of hedge laying. Fabulous.

I've wanted a living fence since reading Robinson Crusoe talk about making one from willows. Bought 20 acres this summer so it's on the long list of projects.

My grandfather, who was born in 1881 was a hedge layer by trade. Depending on the season, he spent his working life "hedging and ditching".

Thanks for this video. My only frame of reference for "hedgerows" is various war references. I had mistakenly assumed that these were just groomed yet naturally occurring. This method of building illustrates why these would be so treacherous for advancing forces. I read once, "for a new idea read an old book" it's curious how tradition and and technological advancement tend to seesaw and recirculate.

I can relate ... working in the woods is therapy for me ... cutting trees with my dad every saturday last months ... trying to clear a forest planted by my great-gandfather of some dead trees ... having a picknick in the woods during work is the best. :D

Great vid! I build fences and decks for a living. This living hedge is great and makes more sense then most fences. Not only is it cost effective it lasts longer and provides to the ecosystem instead of taking from it. Learning from our past should be essential yet it seems to be more of a hobby now a days.

AYEEE I just broke my leg now I’m stuck in my bed and can’t go outside and so I’m sad now, but now I feel happy and I agree, we should bring on the old techniques

Thank you for showing this ancient craft! Julius Caesar wrote about hedgerows that impeded the movement of his armies when he was conquering what is now Belgium and the southern Netherlands. I work for an organisation in the Netherlands that works to promote the restoration and maintenance of cultural landscapes in our country. And planting and maintaining hedges are our most important activities. We take a lot of inspiration from the UK, where the tradition is much more alive and widespread. We do a lot of work in the Maasheggen (Meuse hedges), which is one of the very few areas in this country where the traditional pattern of hedges is still intact. These hedges are all in the floodplains of the river Meuse (Maas), so when the river floods in the winter the hedges would cause the flow of the water to slow down, causing the finest and most fertile particles to settle on the fields, fertilising them. The Maasheggen has been designated a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 2018.

Very cool traditional technique! Never seen such a hedge here in Ireland, it's definitely worth implementing someday! Thanks for sharing Mike!

When the Americans, British and Canadians invaded Normandy in June 1944, after moving across the beachheads they came across the "Bocage", the traditional hedgerows of the Normandy Countryside. The hedgerows created small compounds where the hedgerow had built up over centuries up on mounds of earth so that the roads and lanes running amongst them were at lower levels. The Germans set up Anti Tank Guns and Armoured vehicles behind the natural "berms" camouflaged by the hedgerows. Each small plot of land behind the hedgerows became a small natural fortress. The most amazing thing is that during the planning for the invasion back in the UK , noone had considered the obstacle that the hedgerows would pose to miltary operations. Although they had similiar hedgerows in Britain (albeit that many may have been removed as you have discussed) no training was conducted to practise how one might assault these hedgerows. In the end they made up makeshift plows out of old landing craft obstacles and welded them to the front of tanks so they could breach these incredible defences!

Hi Mike thanks for another interesting video. I was fortunate about six years ago to help friends lay the hedges around their allotments. We had an 85 yr old gent showing us the way to lay it. It was a great learning experience.

1 of the hardest crafts to master imo. We used to watch the young farmers competitions years ago and hedgelaying was a massive part of that.

Great job, thank you for assisting in the resurrecting of these lost arts!

As a subscriber who is born and raised in Hawaii, I find your channel absolutely fascinating. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion.

I’m truly amazed by your videos! Thank you for bringing old knowledge to life.

This is really incredible stuff! I hope it catches on in America. It’s a beautiful and natural skill! Loved the established example 🙏🏻🤙🏻

Very interesting Mike. I once did a hedge laying course at Cirencester agricultural college. It's a hard job but the hedges are better for it. My Uncle Arthur Pearcey now long dead told me a story about hedge laying. They used to wear a thick leather glove on one hand so they could push the hedge down. This glove was thick and stiff and would turn even the hardest of thorns but on one occasion a black thorn pierced the glove and run up under my uncles thumb nail. He was in agony. Blackthorn is not a good thorn the get stuck with. The wound will often turn septic. I believe this happened to my uncle way back in the 1930's. As I say he is long dead now...... Sandy

Found a lot of your videos entertaining and informative, however this takes it to another level in understanding what went before and why! Well done. Nice seeing your Dad involved.

Great video…I really think traditional woodland skills is a great direction to take the channel in part, now you own the woods. Owning woods myself, it’s too easy to go down the ‘community’ camp route and the woods become sterile and too ‘peoplely’ IMO. Really love this and hope to see more.

One of your best videos, wonderfully explained and shown. I think it's awesome that you revive the old traditions and share your knowledge. Thank you very much for your commitment. Greetings from Bulgaria. 🙂

Great video ! My Quaker ancestors emigrated to the US way, way back, bringing their traditional farm skills with them, but they homesteaded on the treeless prairies of Kansas so they forgot their forestry knowledge, But they gained some new skills, like making a sod house. And burning "buffalo chips" for heat. I remember my grandfather calling the milk cows in from pasture: "cuuum baaas."

This is a fascinating video, watching true woodland craft in action, plus nice to see billhooks getting featured, often a forgotten tool in bushcraft videos. Cheers Mike 👍

Loved all the historical and functional details!

Brilliant video Mike - many thanks. Great to see you doing this work. Laying hedges and making hurdles are two of the most satisfying things to do. Used to love doing it with my Dad - who was born in 1917. Unfortunately he passed when I was only 13 but he still taught me so many things. On the terminology front we used to call the weaving of the live trees pleaching. We used to put the stakes in ahead of cutting so we could weave the live pleachers into the stakes. Our approach was to tidy up the laid branches so the hedge was clear of dead material as much as possible. What we were looking for was a nice clear environment so that you got plenty of straight shoots. The pleachers made the fence, not the dead material and made it easy to relay in the future. When we’d finished weaving the pleachers we used to cap the hedge with hazel binders to make sure the hedge held together. Important to remember that the stakes and the binders are not the fence - they are the supporting infrastructure for the pleachers - so we used to concentrate on getting the pleaching right and work the stakes and binders around that - doesn’t matter if they aren’t dead straight. You did a great job Mike. Hot tip though is to leave as much of the live material and wood as you can on the pleached branches. You got two big heels and a thin strap. Try for something more like a heel and a wedge. This will encourage the sap to flow into pleached branch. Try to make the first cut 60ish degrees and only 3/4 of the way through if you can. Granted, the bigger the branch the harder that is to achieve though. Also it’s a multi year job - so you can cut down big trees and branches and wait for them to sprout. Then pleach the new shoots. Much easier to do!! You can also layer the new shoots too, to give you more to work with in future years. It’s also good to let a tree grow up every so often - pick one that is a nice shape and bang on the right spot. This is great for strength and wildlife. As you know there are many types of billhook - my favourites and the one I inherited from my dad and grandma is like a heavy duty spar hook with a square end. This is really useful for pulling branches toward you and cutting withies and heels simply by pulling sharply towards you - really useful if you can’t get a swing in. Another thing I’d strongly consider is that you propagate some hazel to plant along the hedge line, between the stakes where you are short on pleaches. You can do this with green cuttings, or by layering withies from your existing stock and then transplanting in your new hedge line. You can probably find some videos on KZfaq to help. Hope this has been useful. Really looking forward to seeing your next videos. Cheers MJD

Reminded me of Hooper's Rule. Hedges that have existed for hundreds of years are colonised by additional species. This may be useful as a means of determining the age of the hedge. Hooper's rule (named for Dr. Max Hooper) is based on ecological data obtained from hedges of known age, and suggests that the age of a hedge can be roughly estimated by counting the number of woody species counted in a thirty-yard distance and multiplying by 110 years.[11]

I really respect and appreciate the work it takes to make these kinds of videos. Very cool and well done dude. Thank you for sharing your bushcraft skills, I will use them in my trips.

This has been fascinating. I can picuture and understand the hedges in the old stories I like to read so much better now!

Thank you for the knowledge you are providing. To know that you are doing this for you’re local ecology means much more respect from me! Keep it up

Incredible content mate! From here in the USA, the same applies. For wildlife, our whitetail deer thrive when they have tall grasses to bed in, and lots of boundary zones between woods and food plots. The same applies especially for migratory birds that seek not only water but also tall grasses to rest in. There is so much ancient (and modern) knowledge about building and improving the land to keep it healthy, while supporting farming, tree growth, soil enrichment, water purification, and flourishing wildlife. Thank you for compiling so much of it in your videos. I also love that you met, connected with, and built camaraderie with your neighbor. Developed a solution to the problem that benefits both of you, the land, the heritage, and all of us. What a powerful message in such a simple deed.

With everything going on in your life, one of the most important person in your life is that older Gentleman with the gray mustache(your Dad), he's full of wisdom, grab and cherish every moment your spend with him, then share that wisdom with your children, my Dad past 15 yrs ago, we wasn't as close as you are with yours, I love this father and son videos, thanks for sharing your wisdom Sir. JJ Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

These techniques are timeless this is genuinely useful information, hedgelaying has become a lost art and this has inspired me to give it a try. Thanks for sharing these valuable skills with us and the historical background is fascinating, keep up the great work!

Inspirational and informative as always! Thank you for taking the time to document and explain this for this generation and future generations. We manage a small croft (Scottish Highlands family farm) and are attempting, year on year, to reintroduce more and more traditional, sustainable and environmentally positive elements here. Many thanks and all the best.

I enjoyed watching that. Haven't seen it done locally for decades. This autumn, one of my customers wanted their overgrown boundary hedge laying. Like yourselves, to secure the garden, but more importantly to create a better wildlife habitat. Looked it up online for tips and techniques etc, and set to with it. Now awaiting the spring to see the results.

Dad and Yourself: thank you again for another informative episode. Personally ; have never seen (rather noticed hedge laying in South Africa. I sure it's a farming tradition practiced and passed on. ) Personally; there isn't a second lost when you wonderful folks teach and guide us. The Lord be with your family and sincerest thanks.

Prince Charles enjoys hedgelaying! I've seen a hedge done by him and it was a beautiful think stock proof fence, so suitable for habitat as well. Not just hazel though. Mixed species. I'm very much enjoying seeing these skills talked about more widely. The revival in the 80s/90s seemed to have gone quiet so this is great.

So soothing experience, feels like I'm myself there!

As soon as you said billhook I heard four candles. 😃👍

It’s great to see the progression of the woodlands. There are so few forests that have not been detrimentally touched by humans, that loving management is so important.

Very interesting and informative video. I like the idea of a living hedge instead of a fence.

Thank you for taking the time to explain the whole process! Here in the US there are very few examples of good hedge laying. I'm hoping to implement some of these techniques myself in the coming years!

Pretty cool that you where a teacher at school, and now your a real woodsman,and you teach adult how to reclaim traditional and relevant skills. thanks man.

Enjoy the time with your dad Mike!

Thank you so much for including hedgelaying! I love it! I'm going to grow some new hedges on my farm and can't wait for them to grow big enough to lay 😀

As a horticulturist and botany enthusiast, few things bring me more joy than the wonder of folks discovering and appreciating how incredible plant biology is. This video was very enjoyable to watch. :)

This has seriously answered questions I've had about hedgerows. Thank you.

always happy to see your dad 😍 and i love watching your journey

Truly great work TA, if only our governments had such pure intentions for our environment!

You produce such beautiful and valuable content, i was just about to look out for some footage, how to build such hedges... And here we go :) Cheers from Germany my friend :) Keep up the good work, I bought a little woodland myself and seeing it as responsibility having the chance to create an island for wildlife, I am very happy with your ideas.

A very interesting peak into history. Much appreciated & very enjoyable. Thank you.

This gives me so many ideas for marking walking paths through the forest at the farm! Thanks, Mike!

Mother earth needs people like you ta

Beautifully organic in this crazy technological world.

Simply fantastic video, perfect explanation, congratulations, thank you very much for sharing 👊

I love hedgerows, I remember seeing them in Ireland when I was 7 and being in awe.

Fascinating! The Americans Indians have done similar in the U.S. as well… this was a wonderful explanation of the process and a well needed highlight of the technique. You’ve once again done a great service.

A lovely and well presented video!! I’m so happy to have clicked on this as I’m dreading getting started on fencing off the boundaries of my new piece of land in the Spanish mountains, so I’m going to utilise the skills showcased in this video. I will be using brambles to incorporate a thorny deterrent to animals and people that try to make their way through the land the wrong way and brambles can take root anywhere they make contact with ground that can support growth. So the hedgerows I’m going to create will actually continue living and will be productive by producing one of my favourite super fruits, blackberries!! Brilliant information and wisdom!!

I'm really liking this series and where you've taken the channel. As someone with land, I appreciate how maintaining and creating habitat will bring in a new host of animals and birds. For example; leaving a dead-standing tree trunk for woodpeckers and squirrels to move into instead of harvesting it for firewood, or leaving large old trunks down on the ground as a spot where foxes can shelter. It's amazing because decisions made years ago are showing results and I'm only realizing the positive impact now. Just this past Autumn I was toying with harvesting the standing trunk of a large poplar (Aspen) that had lost it's top in the wind, however, after seeing how many creatures have taken advantage of similar trunks in the past, I decided to leave it. I can't wait to see what moves in!

Mike, I think you must have been an awesome teacher. You have made a living hedge so very interesting. It’s not something I would normally be interested in but I have found this episode so interesting & have learned so much. Thanks!

This is a great demonstration video Mike, I enjoyed it very much. I want to use your techniques to build hedges around my property here in the States. Another excellent resource is the BBC's "Victorian Farm" and "Edwardian Farm". There's are episodes that demonstrate all manner of hedging and fencing.. y'all keep up the good work..!!

Very inspirational. I have started one in Canada (Ottawa area ) where there is none to be seen. I thought that the very cold winter would prevent the survival of cut trees, but to my surprise and delight, they grow well and the system works just as well. I'll be working on this for many years. Thank You!

There can be no doubt of your dedication to this woodland. Its not that you just own it but you care for it. Fantastic job and love seeing Graeme there with you.

Your dad's hat says it all. Very interesting and I last did the laying back in the '80's, Another revival, Well done.

Fantastic work. I can just remember my father and grandfather (yes, in their tweeds) doing this to maintain centuries-old field boundaries. I still remember my grandfather's rants against Churchill, whom he considered a warmonger and no better than that "Hitler chappie". Being firmly in the "none of our business" camp, he despised both because he was forced to get rid of most of the horses with which the farm had been worked since the year dot. I love the direction your channel is taking. The old ways are still the best. Practices that last millennia survive for a reason. I'm so glad that you appear to be intent on keeping them alive for another generation. Good for you.

Friend Lars, Some thoughts on your snowmobile and life in general; Living in Minnesota and now Wisconsin I am amazed that the snow machines of your friend and yours only have a single ski. Of the hundreds of thousands of machines I have seen, they all have two skies! I am frankly stunned the single ski units are as agile as you have demonstrated. If it was me, I would test out fitting a somewhat wider homemade ski in addition to the original. Lastly, after seeing Miss P. Ninja for the past several years ( and as the proud papa of a number of my own) I am going to predict any life partners in her future should be cast in her dad's hearty imagine and never, ever underestimate her in any possible manner! I hereby award her one of my extra WARRIOR PRINCESS crowns.

i had the opportunity to help a guy hedge laying back in the late 80s when i worked on a farm, we used willow that we had cut down instead of hazel, but it was done in the same way that you have explained.some of the willow has also grown up as well making the hedge alot thicker, he also used the willow to make sheep fences. great video

Did hedge laying in the UK in the late 1950s when working as a farmworker. Hard but satisfying work. The billhooks we used then had a short cutting edge on the back.. you brought back old memories. Never used hazel as stakes though, they tended to take root

Great video - never knew about this before. Very entertaining, making 40mins feel like 10.

Great insight to what you are doing to maintain your woodland with ancient old techniques . Thank you

Though I live in the USA when I think of an English countryside I think of what things looked like in the old days when you used what you had. Not only does it look charming doing what you are doing but it also becomes a safe haven for animals and keeps boundaries between neighbors and looks natural. Thank you so much for sharing information as well as continuing traditions and keeping things alive instead of being forgotten.

I now own about 5 acres of woodland in Minnesota, and I’m intending to lay hedges around the property

Watching, learning from Tennessee, USA. Love the passion for nature and respect for skills of the past. Thank you.

The hedging could also serve as a snow fence. I am glad you showed how to build the supports and the weaving of the hazelnut limbs and branches. Thank you

What’s awesome is the excitement for each new shoot. You’re awesome for looking out for the wildlife birds and such they will love and care for you also as they really do understand your reasoning ✨💫💎

Loved this episode

Dad is digging that sandwich. Great video.

HRH Charlie will be proud of what you’re doing😀great to see traditional skills

Beautiful work and you’re correct, nature is absolutely AMAZING!

Couldn’t agree more at how wonderful the forest is in all four seasons! The smells, the sounds-and for you to continue with sustaining your woodland and with your dad along. Such a legacy you’re creating. God bless you and your next generation

Absolutely brilliant, you are an excellent teacher! I love the combined presentation of history and hands on skills it takes to maintain a woodland. I don't believe I've ever fully appreciated all that it takes, it truly enhances my love of nature and tradition. Thank you!