Welsh banks are normally returfed along their length as a part of the hedge laying operation. By contrast, the only work normally done along the length of high West Country banks is that every year or two, soil is cut out at the base and placed along the top. This nourishes the plants growing there, and makes good any slumping of the earth at the base. Otherwise, only gaps and damaged turf are repaired, except in competition work when the whole face is torn down and rebuilt.
The following procedure lists the general sequence for major repairs. Detailed procedures are explained on the following pages. Ordinary gapping is done in the same way, except that it’s not necessary to set out a line or cut such regular turfs. However, be sure to back the turfs with earth fill, break the joints between courses, maintain the correct batter and keep the work well tamped.
If the hedge is to be laid after turfing, the initial trimming and cleaning out of undergrowth should be done before the turfing work commences.
- Prepare the bank for returfing by cleaning out gaps and eroded areas (see below).
- Peg out a string along the base of the bank to mark the position of the first cut. The line should follow the natural run of the hedge, conforming to gradual curves and bulges, but cutting off small irregularities caused by erosion or slippage. Where the run is straight a string makes for the neatest job, but where there are subtle changes of direction expert craftsmen prefer to judge the line by eye in order to avoid an ‘engineered’ look.
- Make a series of downward cuts with spade or shovel along the line to mark its position on the ground. Then remove the string. Welsh hedgers sometimes then resite the string along the top of the bank, to mark the top line of turfing.
- Cut out and place the first course of turfs (see below).
- Place additional courses as required. Break the joints between turfs in alternate courses, as in a brick wall.
Keep the backing well filled and tamped, and keep the courses running level. Set each course very slightly back from the course below. This, plus the inward tilt of each turf, ensures that rain runs into, rather than drains off, the bank. The opposite effect, known in Devon as ‘thatching’ or ‘datching’, causes the upper part of each turf to dry out and become powdery.
- Bring the turf up to the top or ‘comb’ of the bank. The exact height relative to the comb varies, as diagrammed below. In any case finish off with good, friable soil along the top and around the bases of the hedge plants.
- Clean up the work area after finishing the bank. Move any unwanted dislodged rocks out of the way of stock or machines. Put excess soil back over the area where turfs were cut, and use the digger or mattock to break down the sharp edge between the cutting and the uncut field. This helps the scars heal over quickly.
- Cut and lay the hedge, if necessary.
Preparing the bank
Use the digger or mattock to pull out loose sods and earth in order to expose the firm fill at the base and centre of the bank. Cut away ragged edges and overhanging turf.
Clear out shrubs growing in the side of the bank, and coppice any trees growing from the side, except where they are required for hedge laying.
Keep the loose earth piled near the base of the bank, to be re-used as backing for the new turfs, but leave room at the base to cut the first course of turfs. In West Country turf hedging competitions, where the side of the bank is cut back to the perpendicular and down as far as the level of the field, a great deal of the bank ends up around the craftsmen’s feet. Some competitors shovel the fine soil into plastic sacks. These are then lifted on to the crown of the bank to get them out of the way, and where they provide a supply of good soil for finishing off the top.
Another technique used in competitions is to lay down matting or old boards where you plan to dig out the new turfs, before beginning repairs. This protects the turf from trampling, and as you work you can shift the matting or boards back to areas which you will cut later.
Cutting and placing turfs
The diagram shows the usual position of the first course of turfs cut from the field. Cut succeeding courses progressively further away from the bank. Where the field is patchy and bare, turfs must be cut wherever the grass is best, but if possible keep the digging near to the bank for neatness and efficiency. Large stones in the turf can be set aside or used to help fill in deep hollows in the bank.
First course cutting methods
Method A. Cut out a notch using the line already cut as the back of the notch (step 3, above). Spread the soil from the notch on the top of the bank and wherever the face needs filling out, turning the grass green side down. Then cut out the first course of turfs using this notch as a backing line.
Method B. Cut out the first course of turfs directly, using the guideline as the back cut. Place the turfs in position against the face of the bank as you cut them. Then dig out the trench where the turfs were, to get more soil as backing for the turfs or for the bank top.
Whichever method you use, pack the loose soil onto the bank face where gulleys and sags need filling in and along the top to even out hollows and dips. Do not pile the earth up around the stems of the hedge trees. When these are cut and laid the pleacher stools should not be covered with earth.
Backing and packing the turfs
Wherever the bank face has been torn down, either to remove old turf or to clean out a gap, the proper backing for new turfs must be provided before placing the turfs. Use earth cleaned out of the gap, or else dug from the trench left by the removed turfs. Keep the backing well filled and somewhat above each course of turfs as it is placed. Tamp the earth fill with spade or digger so that it is well firmed before the turfs are placed against it. This is how the work should proceed:
Where only a little earth is needed behind the turfs, as when adjusting the batter (see below), you can place each turf first, shovel in the required amount of fill behind it and then pack both turf and fill at the same time.
Welsh workers use the flat of the spade or the sole of the foot to tamp the turfs. In the West Country the digger is used instead. In competitions, craftsmen tamp turfs at the top and sides only, to avoid smearing the faces. This is important in any case to knit each turf to the one beside it, eliminating as far as possible the visible joints. Turfs which are cut on the slant knit in more easily than rectangular turfs.
You can keep the turf steady and in one piece by placing your foot against its face while tamping it from the top.
Set each turf so that it tilts slightly inward. This helps rain to run into the bank, and also keeps the turf from falling outward as the bank settles.
Direction of work
Cut the turfs in an orderly pattern, either right to left as shown in the diagram, or vice versa as convenient.
Size and shape of turfs
Turfs can be cut in various shapes and sizes, depending on soil conditions and on local tradition. In heavy soil bigger turfs can be cut because the soil stays together, but it is hard to cut turfs much over 1’ (300mm) square. Big turfs make the work go faster, but on a high bank of many courses they tend to knit together less well than do smaller turfs. Light soil tends to fall apart and requires smaller, thinner turfs, but there should still be at least 4” (100mm) of soil under the grass or else the turfs tend to buckle under the weight of turfs above. Soil depth is very important for strength in high banks, where the ‘turfs’ are more like blocks of soil at least 6” (150mm) thick, and preferably the full depth of the shovel blade.
The variety of turf shapes and the ways in which they are placed on the bank are best shown by examples. The diagrams indicate the typical number of courses needed in each case, but be prepared to add or subtract courses for banks of varying heights. Bank heights are average. In all cases the field at the base of the bank is smoothed over after turfing is finished.
In the Montgomery style the turfs are dug from the base of the bank face and placed on a shelf as shown. Only one course of large turfs is used in this way.
The alternative Cornish example shows the turfs turned so that the grass is buried by the turf above. This method is slower than the usual West Country style, but is useful when filling in deep hollows on the bank face, or when working with crumbling turfs.
Another West Country variation, not shown, is to lay the foundation layer grassy side up in order to give a wider base, and then to place succeeding layers face outward as usual.
Batter
The ‘batter’ of a bank is the pitch at which its face slopes. This is usually expressed as a ratio, for example a batter of 1:3 means that the bank slopes inward one unit for every three vertical units. A 6’ (1.8m) bank with a 1:3 batter on each face is 4’ (1.2m) narrower at the top than at the bottom.
On high West Country banks the batter for new work is set by building to a special wooden or metal pattern. For repair work it is easier to maintain the batter by eye, judging from the existing bank. West Country turf hedges usually vary between 1:3 and 1:6, depending on the shape of the land and the orientation of the face. East or north faces normally have a more gradual batter to counteract the fact that they are sheltered from south-westerly driven rain.
Low banks of only a course or two should be steepened during repair in order to correct the usual slumping of the soil. Restore a batter of between 1:2 and 1:6 to these banks by adding more earth fill behind the top than the bottom of each turf.
Tall banks, if built with a straight batter, tend to ‘belly out’ as they settle, particularly if the land is higher on one side of the bank than the other. This is why, although some Cornish banks are built straight, most West Country banks are built about 2” (50mm) concave. During settling the concave face straightens or remains very slightly concave. The 2” concavity should be restored during repair so that, as it settles, the repaired area comes to resemble the rest of the bank.
On a high bank the batter can be checked with a plumbline as you work. On a concave batter, the middle course should be nearly vertical. The concave batter approximates the curve of a Devon shovel stick, which is traditionally used to check the batter.
Tests for firmness
In West Country competitions, the work is checked for firmness as follows:
- Climb up the bank at a place where it is old and solid. Then side-step along it, carefully going over the newly-built part. Do not step right on the edge. The idea is not to dislodge the turfs, but to sense the firmness of the packing. Gently hop up and down where the new earth fill joins the solid heart of the bank. The packing should not give.
- Take a stick about 2’ (600mm) long and a quarter inch (6mm) in diameter. From ground level, go over some of the joints between turf blocks, seeing how easy or hard it is to push the stick through the earth packing. The stick should not go in easily. If it does, the packing is too soft and is liable to subside.
