Will’s World: Hedge proud, and not ashamed to say it
© Lee Boswell Photography Even though in some circles it makes you about as popular as the bloke who shot Bambi’s mother, I really like hedgecutting.
And if you didn’t realise that hedgecutting could be controversial, congratulations – you’re obviously one of the eminently sensible people who don’t bother with social media.
See also: Tips to make the most of existing trees and hedges on farm
About the author
Seriously, I unsuspectingly posted a photo of my sexy little MF 6480 and McConnell power-arm combo a few years back, along with a hedge that a blind man on a galloping horse might say I’d done a passable job of trimming.
Only to be met with a barrage of negative comments and abuse from all sorts of outraged people with not enough to worry about in their lives.
Of course there were the cyclists, but they’re always furious about something or other.
If we didn’t cut the roadside hedges, they’d be just as angry as when we do cut them, so we’re never going to win.
Perhaps it’s just all the chafing that makes them so grumpy.
Green finger-pointing
But what really surprised me at the time was the number of self-styled environmentalists that were frothing at the mouth with rage over the very idea of a farmer flailing his own hedges.
Apparently, I should be laying them all instead, as it’s less destructive and better for biodiversity.
That might well be true, and I’ve been known to take great pleasure in wielding a billhook occasionally.
But when there’s only two of us managing more than 12 miles of hedgerows, not to mention the small matter of trying to make a living at the same time, laying anything other than a short stretch each year would be wildly impractical.
I doubt the shouty keyboard warriors would be willing to lend a hand either. They’d have to break a sweat for a start, and there’s the possibility of getting a thorn in a baby-soft finger.
What my holier-than-thou green friends don’t realise either is that I’ve become a bit of a hedge enthusiast in recent years.
And spend a great deal of time and money each winter putting new plants and trees into gaps.
I find it very therapeutic and take great joy in seeing them steadily fill up, dull man that I am.
I’ve also been letting our existing hedges get incrementally bigger over the past decade or so.
It’s been remarkable to see how they’ve transformed from short and narrow, box-shaped strips, cut to the same height every year, into large, A-shaped hedges that bear a huge number of berries and give excellent cover for songbirds.
There’s more work to do yet, but I’m quite proud of them.
Elm exemption
I worry that the kind of noisy and uninformed voices that shout so loudly and aggressively on social media can influence government policy.
And I’m nervous about ultra-prescriptive and inflexible environmental schemes.
The Sustainable Farming Scheme in Wales is going to restrict us to only cutting hedges every other year, which is all well and good, but will that also apply to elm hedges?
We have a lot of them here, and I’ve allowed them to get to as big as I’m comfortable with already with their yearly trim.
If they get much taller they’ll be in danger of attracting the dreaded bark beetle, and we all know what will happen then – no more elm hedges.
Hopefully good sense will prevail, and exceptions can be made in certain circumstances, but I won’t hold my breath.
Anyway, I’m off to cut hedges on a windy, narrow stretch of busy main road.
Making driving conditions much safer for motorists? Bloody farmers.