Hawthorn Hedge

layering is maybe an expensive solution for me. Reading all that is so useful.Thanks everyone

 

Did you mean layering or laying? They are two different techniques. Hedge laying is not expensive as long as you have a decent handsaw, good secateurs or loppers to deal with side branches, and enough physical energy to last you a few hours. The advantage of it is that done well, contrary to people's fears that it harms the hedgerow and it needs years to recover, it actually rejuvanates it and encourages it to thicken up far more quickly than would be the case if it was left alone.

Layering is, I believe, when you peg side shoots to the ground and wait very patiently for them to develop their own roots, and then you sever the newly rooted branches/shoots from the parent plant, thus effectively cloning the parent plant and getting an additional new plant. A bit like taking a cutting but kind of in reverse. I've heard of people doing this with hazel and other very flexible shrubs in hedges, but I don't think its as popular as a hedge maintenance technique as hedge laying.