Hedge laying - North Somerset Style

Rob travels to the sunny side of the Mendip Hills to meet Mike Reed, champion hedge layer, to learn more about the ancient art of hedge-laying.

[@colinmayes9446]

That hedge looked fantastic, and the boys themselves are doing a fantastic job regarding conservation, good on em.

[@johnsawyer2516]

Somerset God’s county. A few years ago we used to attend agricultural shows selling walking sticks,shepherds crooks, thum sticks. We met some lovely people and had a good natter.

[@KarasCyborg]

Pretty smart to grow the materials you need for a fence, windbreak, corral right where you need it, and make a living fence out it of it.

[@camerakid76]

This is one of the most fascinating things I’ve seen on KZbin in a while!

[@robsdiscovery]

Thanks! 😊

[@bethcollier3789]

Amazing. Great lesson with historical knowledge thrown in. Working with nature to provide artistic structure alongside the road. Thank you, Rob, for another entertaining video.

[@robsdiscovery]

Thanks again, Beth 😊 This is one of my favourite Rob's Discoveries so I'm particularly glad you enjoyed it 🤗

[@usnchief1339]

This is so much better than barbed wire!

[@legolisp]

Beautiful video, makes me home sick. I’m a Suffolk boi living in NSW Australia, used to love a bit of hedge laying. Miss all the old world stuff!

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you very much 😊 And a big "hello" 👋 from a wild, wet & windy south west England! 🌧️🌬️☔🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿😆

[@gtbkts]

I'm from Ohio, and I tried to move to Florida. But the sand and the flatness almost drove me mad. I had to come back to the woods and the hills. I can only imagine missing something as beautiful as this( and other old world stuff), I'd be insufferable. 😅

[@robsdiscovery]

Ohio sounds like your best bet 😉 Good move 🌳🪓😁

[@LS-kg6my]

I would love to see this in the US. Even hedges for your garden would benefit wildlife and be beautiful.

[@suedoxat8297]

Excellent to see and learn more about the art of hedgelaying. If only they werent over or undermanaged so badly.

[@g7mks383]

Very well presented with good content, thanks for the video.

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you, Martin 😊 I shall try to keep up the quality! 😁

[@wazza33racer]

Hedgerows in WW2 Normandy, were so intense that not even tanks could drive through them............

[@barkershill]

No problem keeping a few cows in then ?

[@robsdiscovery]

🐮😆

[@gtbkts]

I always wondered why and now I know.

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

Rob is a really good documentary film maker. This is actually one of the few documentaries I've watched in the last few years that did not annoy the hell out of me with hyperbole and background music. This one is well made, informative and upbeat. It is also a fine example of the lost art of neutral reporting.

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you so much, Nonya, your comment means an awful lot to me. I've always wanted to make documentaries and this was my first proper attempt. I, like you, find most documentaries to be difficult to watch, and having to put up with a lot of unnecessary 'filler' just to get to the valuable parts. Following your encouraging words I shall launch myself into making more, continuing (and hopefully improving upon) this type of style. Thanks again, and I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Rob 😊

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

@@robsdiscovery I'll post a link to this video where I can.

[@robsdiscovery]

🙏🏽😊

[@turquoisedragon416]

OMG, how coulld I miss this one? Im happy I found it

[@KaoruKoike]

Production value of this episode is very very high 🌱❤️great video

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you, Kaoru! That's a lovely compliment 😊 I really tried with that one by actually planning it! (Mostly 😄) So that means a lot. I've been wanting to use a piano for more sound tracks since but the church (where I sneak in to use theirs and record it 😉) hasn't been accessible for a while now. I'm planning another video with the same men this winter time but focusing on charcoal making this time 🔥😊

[@KaoruKoike]

@@robsdiscovery Great! I can’t wait to watch it. Quite honestly, after watching Michael Moore’s environmental documentary “Planet of the Humans” and David Attenborough’s A Life on Our Planet, I was left to feel devastated yet clueless of how conscious living would look like or be practically applied in modern day young peoples lives... Seeing you do all these things in a fun and caring way open up my city girl mindset to new way of living. Toilet video was awesome as well because I was wondering how you do that. I still have so many questions but for now, Thank you!

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you so much (again!), Kaoru 😊 I really am trying to set a good example and demonstrate other ways of living to show what's possible. I'm really glad it's giving you good for thought. I also watched that David Attenborough film the other night and am now more fueled up than ever to make more videos about more sustainable ways of living. Questions! Yes please! Fire away! Everything you can think of. I'll add them to the questions to answer in my next Q&A video 😊

[@KaoruKoike]

@@robsdiscovery okay, as I told you, I have so many questions.... The toilet video was great. I was wondering if you use product such as toothpaste. soap and shampoo (to maintain your beautiful hair 🤣)Can those products be drained to the land if you use natural products? Please do a video on sustainable personal hygiene care! How do you do your laundry? Can you use vacuum with your electric system? (I’m assuming not yet) Not everyone is capable of fully embracing your lifestyle yet. What do you suggest are the 5 things a person who lives in the city can do to incorporate sustainable living? Do you think lifestyle similar to yours can be accomplished in the future for people such as seniors and single women who do not have physical manpower if the right technology & community structure was implemented? If so, what kind of technologies (and possibly apps and services) do you see would enable this?(please address the biggest hurdles for people who don’t have physical manpower to do this lifestyle now) Hopefully you can pick a few from this list for your next q&a! Thanks Rob!

[@robsdiscovery]

Brilliant questions, Kaoru. I'll add them to the list! 😊

[@bevfitzsimmonds3382]

Very interesting. Thankyou. 🙂👍🐦

[@mysustainabilityjourney9321]

Wow! Really BEAUTIFUL Rob, thanks very much! Love the artiness and filters. My husband has had a go at making a very small fence with some hazel we have chopped down from our tree. Your video makes me want to try harder to make mine better - thanks for the inspiration and excellent content.

[@anitaday599]

What a craft. I found this so interesting Rob. Thank you.

[@samkitty5894]

I like the way nature does this on its own. It doesn't make mistakes.

[@grandadnaughty274]

very interesting video, thanks Rob

[@monles_yen]

Stunning and inspiring. Underground streaming looks like flowing crystal... (I'm surprised as all music coming in this video too

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you, Yen 😊 And I'm glad you approve of my improvised piano playing 😄

[@monles_yen]

@Rob's Discovery Rob, your video is not only a sharing of secret of nature, also the artwork. Especially now many people are stuck at home , they need and can watch good creation like this. Thank you too ! You made all music by yourself!!? Another truth surprised me😳😳😳 Very talented!

[@robsdiscovery]

@@monles_yen I'll try to make another a.s.a.p after all this positive feedback! 😄 Yes, I compose/create all the music. It's not nearly as good as prerecorded tracks but I love doing it, plus I avoid any copyright issues 😉

[@irenedavo3768]

@@robsdiscovery talented

[@Survivethejive]

Very comfy and English video! Thank you Rob

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you, Thomas 😊 I've just subscribed to your channel 😁

[@Survivethejive]

@@robsdiscovery you might enjoy some of the videos about moorland folklore

[@robsdiscovery]

@@Survivethejive Thanks! I most probably will! That's this evening's viewing sorted then 😄

[@sariahmarier42]

Really wonderfully well done!

[@robsdiscovery]

Thanks, Sariah 😊

[@matthewfoster6620]

Lovely little video, I love the series landrover!

[@robsdiscovery]

Thank you, Matthew 😊 Yeah, she's a beaut 🚙😁

[@clairegreenhalgh5346]

Very nicely done Rob!!

[@WHM584]

Another lovely and inspirational video - heard the cuckoo in the background 👍

[@user-tm4pm2dy1i]

Love the hesdges

[@charlieneilson1239]

Brilliant vid 👍🏻

[@robsdiscovery]

Thanks! 😊

[@persephoneblue4276]

😳 wow! Just wow!

[@robsdiscovery]

Best comment yet 😄 You like hedge laying then? 😁

[@peterdavies6587]

At least you have a hedge to work with

[@chrishead6435]

This is brilliant Rob. Spotted some locations from the famous Tourney epic as well as from the other local film Hot Fuzz. Will share with the EH Environment Group - this is bang on topic for them!

[@rompstar]

Hot Fuzz - good movie, always keep the Pub close by!

[@OutOfNamesToChoose]

It's been a while since I've heard birds chirping in the beautiful countryside. I really need to leave the city more often (but not now, of course!). Thank you for the peaceful video. Not only did it make me look forward to summer in these bleak times, but it also taught me about something I had always wondered about. I never knew there were so many different styles of hedging!

[@robsdiscovery]

You're most welcome 😊 I'm glad you found it peaceful 😌 and learned something too. That was my aim so I'm most pleased 😁 It's the one I've enjoyed making the most so far! Let's hope you're able to make it out by summer time! Whenever it is, the birds will still be singing and the countryside will still be there waiting 😊

[@atatterson6992]

Why would you be afraid to leave the city in 2020?

[@OutOfNamesToChoose]

@@atatterson6992 I would've loved to, but those were (to put them delicately) different times. People were getting into trouble for all sorts of "non-essential travel".

[@atatterson6992]

@@OutOfNamesToChoose Gotcha. Thank you

[@johnroberts7924]

Awesome!

[@kennedyjames007]

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now It's just a spring clean for the May queen Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run There's still time to change the road you're on

[@stephenmacdonald76]

Sir, I salute you very informative and interesting short clip, I think I will subscribe

[@robsdiscovery]

Thanks Stephen! 🤗 You can always unsubscribe if ever I start producing uninformative rubbish! 😆

[@stephenmacdonald76]

no very interesting I have what's apped it to a couple of my pals

[@robsdiscovery]

😁👍

[@commentarytalk1446]

I'd go for a hedge that's about 3m wide or so and dig the soil up on either side to form a soil bank raised up, like the Devon Style of Hedge, then from that grow the relevant hedge tree-shrub saplings eg Hawthorne (varieties), crab tree, wild cherry, holly etc and intersperce with hardwoods eg Ash, Oak, Beech, Sycamore and if they'll grow Chestnut. You'd want Copses and Coppices alongside fields too to be honest and hedges connecting up. All fields with wire fences alone and these thin living hedges is not good enough though the living hedge is x100 better than the wire or no hedge. Yes it would take up a fair bit more land but you'd create more robust wildlife belts and the raised earth acts as a superior barrier for live-stock. You'd still need to do a bit of Somerset hedge-laying style to thicken it up with the shrub trees but then you'd leave the hardwoods to grow as large and thick as possible over coming centuries: Nothing better than a hedge with a corridor inside it for wildlife (large and small), a raised bank both micro-niches and barrier to live stock and then thick with mature trees, bordering on a small forest corridor in the coming centuries. Note the abundance: Wildflowers and herbs along with berries and nuts apart from all the wildlife and game. Bear in mind the wider thicker hedge itself returns the loss of land in investment for centuries to come for both wildlife and foraging and visual aesthetics - back after the WWII the small fields had a lot more hedges (see German Aerial Photographs) due to smaller working farms so more biodiversity and more sustainable for the people working the land eg seasonal food eg hedges! Great video and I hope you welcome the above ideas and information above. You know what's nuts, is large commercial farms for food production for an economic system that is split from the local area and the local people - and the lack of hedges and small fields and loss of inefficiency in production - because that's where Nature and Sustainability fits in. If there were natural stone or rock available I'd be inclined to add a bit of that and mix it into the hedge also, part barrier and part additiona feature in the hedge that wildlife takes over eg slugs and snails which in turn feed glowworms and so on... Also thrushes would eat the slugs and snails also and then you get all that birdsong at dawn chorus and dusk evensong apart from nesting sites or hair corners...

[@robsdiscovery]

What a thorough and beautiful comment. Thank you 😊

[@leyla2763]

A couple of years ago, wolves were reintroduced in the Netherlands and they are now killing farm animals rather than wildlife so now I need to find a good way to protect my animals and that’s why I thought a hedgerow surrounding the field could be a good way to keep predators out and the cows in. Only problem is we don’t really have a hedgerow tradition in this country. So if the hedgerow is, say 15 years old and I neglected it during most of that time and the trees and bushes have grown really tall and wild, how do I fill the gaps and what kind of maintenance is needed every year, or will the cows do the maintenance? I am looking forward to dome answers, thanks in advance!

[@robsdiscovery]

What a fascinating question. The answer is a complex one that would require a whole video to give details. I'll do a little research, ask my hedge laying friends and promise to include it in the next question & answer video I'll be recording just after Christmas. I hope you can either wait until then! If you find answers in the meantime then please do let me know! 😄

[@calebfuller4713]

The tall wild hedge is exactly the sort of thing you need for hedgelaying! Watch some hedgelaying instruction videos on KZbin for some ideas. The basic idea for most styles is to put in stakes every 40-50cm, then slice partway through the trunk and lay the trunks down weaving through the stakes. The almost horizontal laying of the branches generally fills in the gaps.

[@johnennis4586]

Try a 303 that will stop the wolves

[@terryteed1903]

Traditionally, when the hedge was cut and layed, any gaps would have been LAYERED. This is the process of making the pleach cut, laying the steeper down, de barking the underside, and pinning the bark damage in contact with the ground. This means that the steeper has a chance of putting down roots as opposed to top growth in the first 2 years and becomes a clone of the steeper. It will then, given time, grow all on its own and become its own stool from which new growth will emerge.😊

[@leyla2763]

@@johnennis4586 I take it a 303 is some sort of gun? If only we were allowed!! We own a simple pellet gun that won’t do the trick but several hunters and even a retired policeman offered to take a shot at them when they turn up at our farm. The number of wolves in this part of the country is rising rapidly and so is the number of animals they killed (mostly sheep but also goats, pony’s and cows). 3400 farm animals so far despite the precautions like electric fences farmers take.….But wolves are a protected species in the EU although that status will probably change in the coming years.

[@southerneruk]

Down on the levels there is a hedge row made of Fuchsia bushes, often wonder if it is still there

[@robsdiscovery]

Do you know whereabouts? I'll keep a lookout for it 👀

[@southerneruk]

@@robsdiscovery in the march

[@anthonymaddison9588]

10,000 miles? Hard to believe.

[@kierancooney5663]

Where can you buy the tools you need bellhook ect thank you

[@robsdiscovery]

It depends which country you're in? But here in the UK I'd go to any country/farm supplies shop, DIY shop with a garden tools section, even some of the bigger garden centres, or nowadays online probably! 🤷🏻‍♂️ I bought my hedge laying billhooks from an antique tool shop and a car boot sale 🪓🪚😁

[@kierancooney5663]

Thank you will do and keep on laying

[@irenedavo3768]

Remember to Thumbs Up 👆

[@jiggersotoole7823]

What is "flaying" ? Is that using power tools?

[@robsdiscovery]

I think it was 'flail cutting' a hedge that was mentioned 🤔 And if so, yes, it's an extreme power tool, usually attached to a tractor.

[@jiggersotoole7823]

@@robsdiscovery aww, that's a shame. Power tools do so much harm. Thanks for answering.

[@3niknicholson]

12:17 Glastonbury Tor?

[@robsdiscovery]

Yep! 😁

[@JRS-iq9pz]

I guess you can't use chainsaws for this type of work. No automating for this work?

[@robsdiscovery]

Chainsaws can be used for some of it. They use them quite a lot when hedgelaying commercially rather than for a competition. No, I doubt any machine could replace this type of skill.

[@atatterson6992]

Did you miss the chainsaws in the video?

[@novascotianinfj]

i just saw a 1942 video on this topic

[@robsdiscovery]

Amazing. Any links? 🔗😁

[@roccoconte2960]

Hey thats cheating with those chain saws schould all be done with hand tools bill hook i think and ax

[@robsdiscovery]

So are farmers are cheating by riding quad bikes rather than mules? 😝

[@roccoconte2960]

@@robsdiscovery Dont get so sensative i was only kidding , i would use a chain saw too.

[@robsdiscovery]

@@roccoconte2960 It was meant to be a joke but didn't come across that way, opps! 😄 They've upgraded to battery powered chainsaws now and it's so much more pleasurable to watch/listen to 😌

[@roccoconte2960]

@@robsdiscovery Battery powered now thats really cheating !

[@robsdiscovery]

😄

[@atatterson6992]

Ya had me until the hardhats came out...

[@robsdiscovery]

What? Why wouldn't you wear a hard hat when using a chainsaw?

[@atatterson6992]

@@robsdiscovery Just me I guess. I've used axes amd chainsaws for 50 years and it never even crossed my mind to put on a hard hat. I suppose there is nothing wrong with it. Then again, I would never wear a helmet on a bicycle out in the country either... I would rather see amd hear nature instead of worrying about crashing into a cowpie :-)

[@robsdiscovery]

I'm the same with bicycle helmets (for better or worse 🙄) but have heard of too many cases of chainsaw kickback not to wear something over my head/face etc. Plus the ear defenders & visor are attached to it 😆

[@atatterson6992]

@@robsdiscovery I do agree with ear protection (I'm paying for lack of it now), however I feel I must warn you that the visor is unlikely to provide much protection from a spinning, aggressive toothed chain... My likely kit would include headphones and sun/safety glasses. But again, that's just me. Appreciate the convo...

[@robsdiscovery]

I agree that certain aspects of 'health & safely' requirements have gone a wee bit over the top in some areas, but when it comes to aggressive, spinning toothed chains I'd rather a visor than nothing between that & my face! 😬😆

[@bnalive5077]

Wtf are you wearing hard hats for? You’re not working on trees, not working at heights, nothing aerial going on……

[@robsdiscovery]

Are you familiar with chainsaw kickback?

[@atatterson6992]

I just spent three days going back and forth with him on this same subject. Apparently, where he works, there are a lot of head amd facial injuries from chainsaws. Me, I've been around them 50 years... never seen or even heard of such an injury. Maybe a British thing?

[@skipmole612]

What a load of bollocks. PS, the land rover is a modern one masquerading as an old one to avoid paying road tax.

[@robsdiscovery]

Thanks for watching! 😄 I'll pass your compliments on to the men in the video. I'm sure it'll make their day. The Landy is indeed a hybrid, well spotted. Though as the DVLA don't seem to mind, perhaps 'masquerading' isn't the correct word to use.

[@robsdiscovery]

Thanks! 😄