We’re only just in to 2023 but already I’m straight into the first big gardening job of the year. Winter pruning my pleached lime hedge.
I’ve always had a thing for these gardening creations and I was so excited when the opportunity came to have a go at making one myself.
It is part of bringing the 200-year old walled garden back to life where I work as head gardener at Scone Palace.
They sound flash and I guess to a point they are but really, pure and simple they are a hedge on stilts.
Now this also may sound a wee bit daft as if you’re needing to have a hedge to create a screen or define a boundary then why not just make a standard hedge that grows from the ground up?
Adding something extra
You could, but I can assure you, your garden gets something more from these raised hedges.
The pleached lime hedge I’m training is 4m/ 13ft tall sitting on a clear stem of 1.5m/ 5ft.
During the summer when the deciduous trees are fully in leaf, when you stand in the garden that this hedge surrounds, you feel you are in a private space even though it is part of something bigger.
However, when you are on the outside looking in, the hedge provides a screen but you can see just enough of the garden within through the stilts of the hedge to tease you and tempt you over to have a closer look.
You can try it at home
These are not just for the large gardens of historic houses either. Take your own garden at home to another level by lining either side of the path to your front door with this.
Or take advantage of their height to screen your neighbour’s house without losing any gardening space underneath.
I don’t think it’s something we see enough of here in Scotland. Last year when joining the DC Thomson Emerald Cruises passengers to the tulip garden of Keukenhof, I was fascinated to see this style used in the gardens over there.
To me, there’s nothing better than a plant that either gives you interest and functionality all year round, not just when it is at its flowering peak. A pleached lime hedge does exactly this, just perfectly.
How to do it
To create the hedge a frame must first be made, I did this with bamboo canes 2.5m/ 8ft long and done in a way that 5 horizontal tiers are formed 30cm/ 1ft apart.
The branches from the tree – which could be of lime (Tilia), beech (Fagus) or hornbeam (Carpinus) amongst others – are then trained along these laterals and tied in to create the framework from which the hedge is formed.
This is where you have options. Once the laterals are formed you can weave and pleach the growth from the branches to then form the hedge, which can then be trimmed every year.
For me though, I cut this fresh growth back to the framework every winter leaving the structure that becomes an espalier feature at this time of year.
The woody prunings then require disposing of. In winter we can find ourselves with many prunings from shrubs, twigs and branches and even storm-damaged trees.
If you only have a small amount then they may be able to be cut up in to small enough pieces that can fit into our green waste bins.
The next step up would be to hire a petrol shredder from your local garden machinery specialist that can generally take branches up to 5cm/ 2in in diameter.
These prunings can be chopped up into small chunks that could be mixed into your compost heap and left for at least six months to slowly decompose.
Then you could use them as a mulch around plants, or for making paths where you can use the chippings fresh.
A dead hedge
With sustainability, rising fuel costs and doing more for wildlife in mind, I’ve being trying something different when looking to dispose of woody material.
Using posts to make a double line 60cm/ 2ft wide from each other, I’ve been able to stack all this in a neat row to create a ‘dead’ hedge.
I’m not suggesting I’d have this my own front garden, but I have found it ideal for the other principles of a hedge – to compartmentalise the garden and for screening.
They are so simple to create to any length you want. My preference is to avoid a straight line, instead have a curve tapering down sometimes at each end.
I’ve found you want to make the woody pieces as flat as possible to make stacking easier and avoid creating gaps.
I’ve also constructed in layers, where a section of lighter twigs is then weighed down with heavier branches.
In time this will compost down, allowing it to be topped up with the likes of your annual hedge clippings or winter shrub prunings.
The Rolls Royce of dead hedges is to weave longer branches around the supporting posts, allowing the centre to be filled with the lighter material and your garden weeds.
Conversation