Dan Wright Conservation

The term 'The Pleach' comes from the Middle English verb 'To Pleach' derived from old French 'Pleche' which means to entwine or interlace (Branches to form a hedge). Not many people know that!! The final picture shows the finished hedge forming a stock proof barrier separating the road from the paddock. With a Midland Style laying, the brash is cleared from one side (the side you are working on) and all the brash is left on the other side. The hedge is then staked and topped with a natural binding of Hazel or in this case Silver Birch. The top binding has two functions. Firstly it gives the hedge strength, as the name suggests, Midland (Bullock) style is primarily to keep in cattle and the second function is that it stops the hedge from lifting in strong winds etc.

Another view of the finished hedge, it also shows that in places there is a shortage of laid hedge material. Fortunately, the hedge is not going to be keeping in any livestock for the foreseeable future so under planting the hedge was not required.

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