The double brush hedge carries the thickest of the stake and pleach styles to an extreme. Rather than forming the ‘typical’ type in any region, it is found here and there throughout much of South Wales, probably dictated by the personal preference of the hedge layer.
The double brush hedge is designed primarily to fence sheep. It is made dense with deadwood, a truly impenetrable barrier until this material rots. New shoots are protected from grazing by the dead brush stuck into the sides. This also keeps the width even and thick from bottom to top. Unlike other hedges, the double brush is considered sufficiently strong immediately after laying to allow stock into the field without any additional fencing.
This hedge is designed to protect regrowth in the middle. Some critics maintain that the surplus deadwood tends to inhibit this centre growth and that the inevitable result in later years is a ‘hollow’, weak hedgerow. But craftsmen who work in this style claim that ‘nothing can stop new shoots, can it?’.
Cutting, laying and staking
The aim is to make a wide hedge, with pleachers coming in from the edges and arching over the centre like a tent. The centre line at ground level is left rather free of pleachers so that regrowth will not be hindered.
Cut out all large stems which grow from the centre line of the hedge. This frees the centre for regrowth, and also avoids the problem of knocking stakes out of line when laying large central pleachers. If there is a lot of centre growth, cut out most of the smaller stems as well.
Cut and lay the stems along the outside edges of the hedge, cutting out completely any that are growing out of line in the adjacent ground.
There are two possible methods if you are working alone. If working in pairs, which is ideal for this type of hedge, adapt Method A so that one person works on either side.
Method A
Work mainly from the near side of the hedge. Work along the row, laying in pleachers from both sides as you go, either by reaching through to lay far side pleachers, or by crossing over when necessary.
You have the choice of weaving the pleachers between every stake, or taking each one outside the first three stakes and tucking in behind the fourth in line. In either case it is best to cut off the ends of the pleachers after about the fifth stake. Try to avoid using very thick pleachers. The top 6-9” (150-225mm) of the hedge should be made up of thinner, brushier material, and this is only possible if the stems are rather small where they are cut off at the fifth stake.
Method B
Cut and lay all pleachers along the near side first. Lay them at an angle of about 30-40 degrees from the top of the bank, so that they cross the stakes roughly at the 18” (450mm) level. The near side pleachers form the lower part of the hedge. Then cross to the far side and lay the remaining pleachers. Take each one over the top of the adjacent, near-side pleacher, so that they form the top part of the hedge.
It is best to weave the pleachers between each stake when using this method. Again, cut the pleachers off after about the fifth stake.
Drive in stakes at a 50-60 degree angle. Space them so that the top of one stake is directly above the bottom of the next one in line. If the pleachers tend to bow out too much, so that the centre of the hedge is weak, you can leave an occasional crop to force the pleachers more tightly towards the centre.
Deadwood
Double brush uses a great deal of deadwood, including whole stems as well as brush. As you work, cut out any stems which grow at an inconvenient angle, or everything that doesn’t ‘run with the hedge’. This includes major branches which angle up out of line with the pleachers.
The idea is to keep the pleachers running at the same angle, and to provide deadwood to fill up any gaps.
Craftsmen in this style say ‘if you pleach one in too soon it makes the hedge run flat’. To fill up the space between pleachers and maintain the correct angle, select a deadwood stem. Cut off unwanted side branches, point the butt end and drive it into the ground between the live pleachers. Trim off the top end so that it will not project from the finished hedge.
These deadwood ‘pleachers’ are also used where it is necessary to shield the top of a cut stool on the outside of the hedge, and where it is not adequately covered by a live pleacher.
Push smaller deadwood branches and brushy bits into the sides and top of the hedge to build it out into its full, uniform rectangular shape. The hedge should be so dense that you cannot see daylight through it when looking from the sides.
Finishing
Double brush hedges, while they have no true binding, have an interlaced top which has a similar purpose in holding down the springy ends of the pleachers. This top is made before the stakes are trimmed.
Take pairs of supple deadwood stems. Force the butt end of each stem into the hedge top between two stakes, so that it is held firmly in the hedge. Then bend it over and weave it between each stake as shown.
Insert a new pair of stems after three or four stakes, when the first pair becomes too thin. Tuck the small ends out of sight in the hedge top.
Trim off the stakes level with the top of the hedge. Then go over the whole hedge carefully, trimming it and inserting any final brush so that it presents a uniform, impenetrable and ‘clipped’ appearance.
