Maintenance, planting and enhancement of hedgerows
These technical sheets concerning the maintenance and planting of hedges were created within the framework of the economic and environmental interest group named The place of the tree within market gardening systems. This GIEE aims to place the tree at the heart of market gardening farms so that it can provide the ecosystem services it is known for, such as the windbreak effect or runoff limitation, while allowing market gardeners to earn additional income from their farm.
There are three different actions: management and valorization of bocage hedge, creation of diversified natural orchards, and planting of citrus and vines.
This project was implemented because market gardeners expressed difficulties in decision-making regarding the maintenance of their hedges. This resulted in aging and decline of hedges due to lack of maintenance, leading to a lack of valorization of these hedges.
It was therefore decided to create these technical sheets concerning the first action of the GIEE to address these issues and guide them in their decisions for maintenance, planting, and valorization of bocage hedges.
Two decision trees have been set up concerning on one hand the maintenance and valorization of hedges and on the other hand the planting and regeneration of hedges. The prices given in these sheets are indicative; they depend on each site and each service provider.
These decision trees lead to each technical sheet, allowing market gardeners to directly find the sheet that corresponds to their needs.
Diversified hedge
Benefits:
Better wind protection, provides a diversity of habitats for crop auxiliaries, strong wood production every 15 years approximately depending on the species, fruit production (chestnut, blackthorn, serviceberry), possibility to produce 3 types of wood: timber, firewood, and wood chip, limitation of disease spread thanks to the presence of different species.
Coppice of trees and shrubs
Benefits and definition:
A coppice is defined by the AFAC as a group of shoots developing on the stump of a cut tree or shrub. This then forms a multi-stemmed tree or shrub resulting from coppicing. Some species are better suited to this practice than others.
The benefits of this type of hedge are regular production of firewood or wood chip, i.e. every 10-15 years depending on species, fruit production (chestnut, hazel, blackthorn, serviceberry), easier creation of light wells, rapid and dense growth.
High forest
Benefits:
More or less hollow trees create dendro-microhabitats for auxiliaries, large production of timber, firewood or wood chip, i.e. every 20-100 years depending on species.
Cutting technique
- For a straight tree
→ Make a felling notch between ⅕ and ¼ of the tree diameter (never more than ⅓) at a 45° angle; this notch will determine the direction of the tree fall
→ Make the felling cut on the opposite side of the notch leaving a hinge
- For a leaning tree
→ Make the felling notch
→ Make the felling cut starting from the side of the natural lean of the tree, which is the pressure zone
→ Insert the felling wedge as soon as possible
→ Continue the cut keeping a wider hinge on the side opposite the natural lean of the tree
→ Finish the felling with the wedge (or with the used equipment)
- For a twin tree
- Make the directional notch
- Make the felling cut using a mortise system (leaving a hinge and a shoulder)
- Separate the twin trunks by a vertical cut, taking care to keep a sufficient attachment in the upper part to maintain the tree during felling
- Finish by cutting the retention limb located at the upper part of the twin trunks
.
- For a hooked tree
→ Never cut the supporting tree
→ Requires use of appropriate equipment (turnbuckle, winch, etc.)
- For a large diameter tree
→ Perform an underbark peeling to reduce the tree diameter, if its sanitary condition allows
→ Make the felling notch
→ Continue by inserting the lower part of the guide, imperatively preserving the hinge
→ Cut from front to back of the tree with a circular motion, insert a felling wedge as soon as possible
- For a hollow/rotten tree
→ Make the felling notch and cut above the rotten zone
Equipment
- Chainsaw
- Air filter in the chainsaw
→ Determines the chainsaw performance
→ Must be cleaned with a dry brush after use
→ Must be replaced if deteriorated
- Protective helmet resistant to a 5 kg impact from 1 meter height without penetration (CE EN 397 standards)
→ Polyethylene (PE) and polycarbonate (PC) helmets have a 3-year lifespan
→ ABS helmets have a 4-year lifespan
→ Polyester, fiberglass, and phenol helmets have a 5-year lifespan
- Protective screen/goggles against projections (included in the protective helmet meeting CE EN 397 standards)
- Hearing protectors (included in the protective helmet meeting CE EN 397 standards)
- Cut-resistant gloves EN 381-7 standard
- Safety trousers
→ To prevent cut risks, choose protection adapted to the chain rotation speed; ensure the equipment is comfortable to guarantee wearing it
Type A: Frontal protection (180°) + 5 cm inside right leg and 5 cm outside left leg
Type B: Same as type A with an additional 5 cm inside left leg
Type C: 360° protection on both legs (often uncomfortable)
- Class 1: Chainsaw at 20 m/s
- Class 2: Chainsaw at 24 m/s
- Class 3: Chainsaw at 28 m/s
- Safety shoes/boots
→ To prevent risks of cuts, crushing, and punctures
→ Ideally with high shaft to protect ankles from sprains
- Fuel (SP95 SP95E10 SP98)
→ Keep for 3 months for SP95E10 and 6 months for SP95 and SP98
- Mixing oil
→ Lubricates important engine components and prevents clogging Before filling the chainsaw, shake the bottle as the mixture quickly loses homogeneity
- Chain oil
→ Lubricates the blade and prevents clogging
Costs
 |
Price (including 20% VAT) |
| Chainsaw 38.6 cm3 STIHL MS
212 |
459 € |
| Chainsaw 50.2 cm3 STIHL MS
271 |
789 € |
| Chainsaw 72.2 cm3 STIHL MS
462 |
1569 € |
| Chainsaw 91.1 cm3 STIHL MS 661 | 1879 € |
| Air filter | 12.20 € |
| Protective helmet | 63.90 € |
| Gloves | 34.10 € |
| Price | |
| Safety trousers
class 1 type A |
74.58 € |
| Safety trousers
class 1 type C |
139.90€ |
| Safety trousers
class 3 type A |
124.74€ |
| Safety shoes | 134.40€ |
| Biodegradable mixing oil | 24.90 € for 2 L |
| Biodegradable chain oil | 15.49 € for 5 L |
Safety rules
- Access routes to the site must be kept free of any obstruction; a first aid kit must be available on site
- Never position arms above the sternum
→ This increases the risk of not being able to hold the chainsaw in case of kickback
- Do not cut with the upper tip of the chainsaw
→ Risk of kickback
- Chainsaw users must have a hemostatic cushion or compressive dressing within reach
- The thumb must be closed on the handle
- The distance between two operators must be twice the height of the tree
→ Never work two on one tree
- Operators must remain within sight or voice range
- Always have a charged phone and check for network coverage
- Never use a pole saw, as this tool is very light and kickback risks are very high
- Ideally, complete the Occupational First Aid Responder training which enables to:
- Examine the victim
- Alert or have specialized rescue alerted
- Stop heavy bleeding
- Correctly position an unconscious person
- Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation
- Use a defibrillator
- Act in case of wound, fracture, burn, and malaise
Marking a hedge
Marking a hedge allows the operator to know which treatment to apply to each tree without ambiguity
| Mark | Mark illustrations | |
| Tree to be harvested | Red diagonal line or red dot |  |
| Future stem | Horizontal orange line |  |
| Tree left for biodiversity | Yellow inverted triangle |  |
Bibliography for further reading: https://www.onf.fr/vivre-la-foret/%2B/19c2::le-secret-des-marquages-sur-les-arbres-en-foret.html , https://charlois.com/marquages-en-foret/ & https://pierrecuny.canalblog.com/archives/2022/09/10/39597900.html
Maintenance costs
Timber
Prices/information are indicative; they depend on each site and the equipment of each provider. Difficult access at the tree base (fence, bramble) and too small an area to fell trees increase prices. Costs are calculated for 100m of hedge but some equipment is rented daily; ideally, group several sites to optimize rental.
- For parts of the tree that cannot be valorized as timber
- Timber prices
Prices/information are indicative; they depend on each site and the equipment of each provider. Difficult access at the tree base (fence, bramble) and too small an area to fell trees increase prices. Costs are calculated for 100m of hedge but some equipment is rented daily; ideally, group several sites to optimize rental. Ideally, it would be interesting to sell in short circuit to local sawmills but the market is saturated in France. Most timber is exported, mainly to China and Portugal. Today prices are disrupted; there is no longer demand from China due to new US taxes, whereas previously most wood went to China. Previously, the price was €170-200/m3 for medium oak, and €120 for ash. Now it is possible to export short and small diameter wood to Portugal: 28 cm diameter for €70/m3 with a minimum of one truck. Portugal is one of the few countries accepting mixed wood trucks.
- Simulation of a site for a high-stem hedge
Felling costs
| Price for 100 m of hedge | |
|---|---|
| Grapple saw | 188€ |
| Feller buncher | 450€ |
| Gross margin for 100 meters of hedge | |||
| Oak | Ash | Current | |
| Grapple saw | 7046 € | 4504 € | 2549€ |
| Feller buncher | 6784€ | 4242 € | 2287 € |
Calculation details:
- Felling equipment price:
- Equipment price*1h15 (=1.25h)
150*1.25 =188 €
300*1.5 = 450 €
Firewood
Prices/information are indicative; they depend on each site and the equipment of each provider. Difficult access at the tree base (fence, bramble) and too small an area to fell trees increase prices. Costs are calculated for 100m of hedge but some equipment is rented daily; ideally, group several sites to optimize rental.
- For felling
What cannot be used for firewood (twig, crown) can feed a dead hedge.
- Cutting into logs
- Price of firewood not delivered:
-Softwood* (alder, poplar, willow...) : €30 / ster
-Hardwood (oak, beech, ash...) : €70 / ster
-Green (unsplit wood) : €50 / ster
- Drying times
- Alder : 1 year
- Ash : 1.5 to 2 years
- Cherry, hornbeam, oak, beech : 3 years
- Simulation of a site for a 3-layer hedge
Felling costs
| Price for 100 m of hedge | |
|---|---|
| Grapple saw | 188 € |
| Feller buncher | 450 € |
Log splitting costs
| Price for 100 m of hedge | |
| 40cm ⌀ splitter for 1m logs of easy-to-split wood (ash, birch...) | 669 € |
| 100cm ⌀ splitter for 1m logs of harder wood (beech, hornbeam...) | 334 € |
| Logging into 50 cm logs of easy-to-split wood (ash, birch...) | 900 € |
| Logging into 50 cm logs of harder wood (beech, hornbeam...) | 1800 € |
Prices earned for 100m of firewood: Softwood = €944 / Hardwood = €1888 / Green wood = €1180
| Gross margin for 100 meters of hedge | |||
| Softwood | Hardwood | Green wood | |
| Grapple saw + 40 cm splitter | +87 € | +1031 € | +323 € |
| Grapple saw + 100 cm splitter | +422 € | +1366 € | +658 € |
| Feller buncher + logging | -406 € | -362 € | |
Wood chip
Prices/information are indicative; they depend on each site and the equipment of each provider. Difficult access at the tree base (fence, bramble) and too small an area to fell trees increase prices. Costs are calculated for 100m of hedge but some equipment is rented daily; ideally, group several sites to optimize rental.
- For felling
- Chipping
- Simulation of a site for a 3-layer hedge
Felling costs
| Price for 100 m of hedge | |
| Grapple saw | 188 € |
| Feller buncher | 450 € |
Chipping costs
| Price for 100 m of hedge | |
| Large section Chipper
+ splitting soft wood |
398€ |
| Large section chipper
+ splitting hard wood |
538€ |
| Branch chipper | 130 € |
| Gross margin for 100 meters of hedge | |
| Grapple saw + branch chipper | 1231 € |
| Grapple saw + large section chipper
⌀ +50cm |
823 € for rigid wood
963 € for soft wood |
| Feller buncher + branch chipper | 969 € |
| Feller buncher + large section chipper
⌀ +50cm |
701€ for soft wood
561€ for rigid wood |
Deduct from final margin:
-Transport cost
-Stump removal potential
Actions to perform after cutting
Prices/information are indicative; they depend on each site and the equipment of each provider. Difficult access at the tree base (fence, bramble) and too small an area to fell trees increase prices. Costs are calculated for 100m of hedge but some equipment is rented daily; ideally, group several sites to optimize rental.
Stump removal is necessary if replanting a hedge of other species after felling/removal because trees are diseased, species are no longer adapted to new environmental conditions due to climate change, or there is insufficient space to replant.
- Simulation of a site for a 3-layer hedge
Stump removal costs
| Price for 100 m of hedge | |
| Stump grinder | 300 € |
| By shovel | 117 € |
Branch collection costs
→ Cannot be calculated as time is not estimable
Lateral or Horizontal Maintenance
Recommendation: Maintain with a flail mower or flail mower once a year for good hedge health. Maintain with a saw mower if the annual maintenance is not done and the branches have become too large. Ideally, this situation should be avoided because the larger the branches to be cut, the slower and more complicated the tree's healing will be. A healthy hedge is at least 1.5 m thick with a grassy strip at least 1 meter wide.
- Site simulation for a 3-layer hedge
Costs for lateral maintenance
| Price for 100 m of hedge | |
|---|---|
| Knife flail mower | 50 € |
| Flail mower | 43€ |
| Saw mower | 157€ |
Calculation details:
- For an unmaintained hedge: Knife flail mower price: 10 min one pass of 1m, maintenance over 4 meters so 40 minutes, 0.67*75= 50
Flail mower price: 10 min one pass of 1.80m, maintenance over 4 meters so 30 minutes, 0.5*85= 43€
- For a maintained hedge: Saw mower price: 37 min one pass of 1.80m, maintenance over 4 meters so 1h51 minutes, 1.85*85= 157€
Contacts
Young Hedges Generalities (0-1 year)
- Installation of mulching for a duration of 3 years
→ Prevents root competition from herbaceous plants
→ Done over about 100 cm wide
| Price | Duration | Thickness | |
| Straw (not delivered) | 1.5-2 € / linear meter | lasts 1 year | 30-40 cm not compacted |
| Wood chips | 7 € / linear meter at
normandieecocombustibles |
lasts 2 years | 10 cm |
| Wool | Free | lasts several years | a few centimeters |
→ Wool has the advantage of protecting against deer
→ Wood chips must not come from coniferous trees to avoid acidifying the soil
- Watering only in case of exceptional drought (one month without rain) to save the plants
- Brush clearing of vegetation bordering the hedge at 1 year to avoid light competition
- Coppicing of trees and shrubs at planting or at 1 year to make them more vigorous with a stronger root system
- Protection of young plants from grazing
High shoots → systematic
Coppices → only if strong predation pressure from deer, rabbits …
- For a fence for sheep, the fence must be placed at least 1 meter from the plant
- For a fence for cattle, the fence must be placed at least 1.5 meters from the plant
| Tube | Sleeve | 2 stakes per plant | 2 supports per plant | |
| Protection of all
plants |
40€ | 420€ | 264€ | 117€ |
| Protection of coppices
and high shoots |
12€ | 123€ | 78€ | 34€ |
| Protection of high shoots | 3€ | 31€ | 20€ | 9€ |
→ Prices of protections for 100 m of hedge with a high shoot every 15 meters, a coppice every 5 meters and a filler species every meter.
Maintenance of a young high forest (1-3 years)
- Pruning for training every year from 2 years old until the tree reaches the desired size (10 to 20 years)
- Pruning of lower branches
→ Allows raising the crown, bringing light to the lower layers of the hedge as well as improving the quality of the trunk by limiting the number of knots
→ Do not cut more than one third of the tree's branches to avoid weakening it by compromising its ability to perform photosynthesis, and to prevent the appearance of water sprouts
→ Done annually in stages, so as not to weaken the young tree
→ If the branch has exceeded 6 cm in diameter, it is too late, it is estimated that a branch over 6 cm will never fully heal if cut. If it does not interfere with the crop, it is better to leave it
Maintenance of a young high forest (3-20 years)
- Continue training pruning and pruning
- Lateral hedge trimming with a mower from 6-8 years after planting
→ Prevents the hedge from encroaching on the crop or public road
→ Do not trim the top of the hedge to avoid weakening it, maintain the hedge laterally over a maximum of 4.5 meters
→ Always keep a minimum of 1.5 m thickness of hedge with a grassy strip at least 1 meter wide which will serve as shelter for beneficial fauna
- In the case of a high forest with trees of different ages, cut 25% of the trees every 15 years to promote the growth of the best-formed ones
→ The less promising ones are recognizable by the fact that ivy has reached the top of the tree or by poor formation
- In the case of a high forest with trees of the same age, cut the trees in worse condition every 20 years
→ Cut between 2 and 4 successive trees to ensure light penetration in the hedge
- Possibility of pollarding
→ Interest: significant biomass production in wood and fodder, biodiversity reservoir
→ Cut all branches as close as possible while preserving the healing collar to ensure good tree healing
→ The first pollarding is done when the trunk diameter is 5 to 10 cm
→ Pollarding operations are done again every 4-5 years for willow (or more depending on the growth rate of species) the stems to be cut must not exceed 15 cm in diameter.
→ Restoration of an old pollard is possible by making a first cut at 50 cm from the base of the stem, then cutting the remaining stub flush with the head. This prevents tearing the bark of the trunk when the branch falls.
Maintenance of a young 3-layer hedge (3-20 years)
For high shoots
- Continue training pruning and pruning
- Possibility of pollarding
- Tree cutting to promote the growth of the most promising every 20 years
For coppices of trees and shrubs
- Coppicing plants about every 10 years for shrubs and about every 15 years for trees
- Possibility of establishing a thinning at 15-30 years depending on the growth of the species
→ Possible species: oak, chestnut, ash, maple, wild cherry, beech, birch
→ Allows to go from a coppice to a high shoot by not cutting the largest shoot of the coppice
→ The favored shoot must have its own roots (thus located at the periphery of the stump)
→ Only cut 1/3 of the shoots at a time so that the thinning adapts gradually to isolation
For all
- Lateral hedge trimming with a mower from 6-8 years after planting with a saw mower (if trimming every 3-5 years) or with a shredder (if trimming every year)
- Special case of beech coppice
→ Alternative to coppice exploited by clear-cutting because beech is a species that resprouts poorly and gradually disappears if fully coppiced
→ Harvest 25% of the beech coppice every 15-25 years
→ Only cut the largest shoots and keep the youngest to ensure the continuity of wood production
→ The harvested shoots will be replaced by new shoots
→ Possibility to become a regular high forest by performing thinning
Benefits:
-Allows never to be without protection against the wind
-Allows never to leave fauna exposed
-Allows regular harvesting for firewood without
killing the stump
Maintenance of a young coppice hedge of trees and shrubs (0-20 years)
- Coppicing
→ Done a few centimeters above the collar, from December to March
→ Allows densifying the lower layer, increasing the number of roots and rejuvenating the hedge
- Lateral hedge trimming from 6-8 years after planting
Note: it is better to prefer regenerative coppicing every 15 years rather than lateral trimming.
- Possibility to cut back half of the year's shoots of shrubs
→ Another method than coppicing
→ Allows densifying the bush
→ To be done every year, for 2 to 5 years after planting
Planting How to choose? Decision
Planting a hedge yourself
Plants
- Prefer plants grown from seeds and take the youngest plants possible, ideally 1-year-old whips
- Stored in a refrigerator at the nursery
→ Take the plant out of the fridge at the last moment, before a rainy day, water if dry weather
→ Plant until June (if the plant has not budded)
- Not stored in a refrigerator
→ No need to water (except if particularly dry conditions)
→ Plant from late November to March (before budburst)
- Choose small, bare-root plants
→ More vigorous plants that grow more efficiently
→ The collar must be at ground level, not buried to avoid rotting
→ Roots are spread out and too long ones are cut to avoid curling
- Possibility to coat plants with rooting powder
Mixture of clay soil, manure (dehydrated or not), compost and water, the texture should be slightly pasty, not completely liquid or thick
→ Speeds up healing of damaged or cut roots
→ Prevents fragile roots from drying out before planting
Cuttings
- Species suitable for cuttings:
-willow (easiest) -dogwood bloodroot -elm -wild cherry
-elder -hazel -maple -ash
-amelanchier -poplar -beech -pomegranate
- Possibility to plant directly in the ground for some species
- Take young shoots just below/above a bud
→ The shoot should be 15-20 cm
→ Done from summer to late autumn
- Handling to perform:
-Cut both ends, the one to be planted must be cut at an angle with a clean blade
-Cut leaves/flowers from the bottom of the shoot to avoid exhausting the plant
-Cut the top leaves in half
-Plant the stem with cut leaves in a pot with 2/3 potting soil and 1/3 sand
- Keep cuttings in a humid environment, exposed to the North, leave for one year in pot or in open nursery before transplanting
- Before 1 year do not pull on the stem to check root development:
- Harvest in already existing hedges
→ Check on Geoportal if the hedge dates before 1980 to be sure to have local individuals and to see the orientation that was set up
→ Do not harvest only the “best” individuals as they are not necessarily the most resistant and this does not lead to genetic diversity
Seeds
To obtain seeds
- Possibility to install a wire above the place where you want to obtain a hedge
→ Promotes natural regeneration by birds
→ Advantage of not taking time
→ Disadvantage of not choosing the species
- At the nursery (ask for Local Plant material so that plant and fauna cycles match)
- Harvest in already existing hedges
To plant seeds
- The seed undergoes cold (<5°C) to promote germination
- Make a hole with a metal bar in the soil
- Fill the hole with compost/ potting soil then plant the germinated seed
- Water once after planting
- Possibility to grow in a pot
Planting/replenishment of a hedge with aids
Subsidies
Replenishment of a hedge by yourself
- It is not necessary to replenish immediately after a cut
→ You can wait for natural regeneration of the hedge
→ Plant if there is a gap
- Need to replenish if the gap is 1.5 to 2 times the height of the hedge
- Planting trees / shrubs
- On a hedge older than 5 years
→ Soil work necessary to a depth of 60 cm and 1 m diameter, control vegetation 2-3 m from the plant
→ Limits strong root competition around the plant
- On a hedge less than 5 years old
→ Simplified soil work with a spade, control vegetation 1 m from the plant
→ Limits root competition around the plant
Dead hedge
- Plant beyond the end of the branches of neighboring trees to avoid competition for light
- Possibility of creating a dead hedge
→ Interest in welcoming many visitors, beneficial insects and other animals
→ Plant a stake every 50-75 cm, leave 50 cm to 1 m distance between the two rows of stakes
→ Place branches lengthwise between the two rows of stakes.
→ Possibility to fill spaces with dead leaves, roots or other organic matter.
→ Possibility to weave branches to hold them better
→ The dead hedge will gradually decompose, so it will be possible to add material over time
Pleaching
- Make a notch with a billhook/axe at the height where you want to lay the shoot, notch the wood over 2/3 of its diameter
- Species: hazel, ash, willow, bloodroot dogwood, chestnut, linden maple oak beech hornbeam hawthorn blackthorn
- To be done from November to late March on plants at least 5 cm in diameter and 2-4 meters tall (often 5-10 years)
- The process is repeated every 15 to 25 years, lateral maintenance every 2 or 3 years
Benefits: have a low, dense hedge thanks to vertical shoots on the stump and on the pleached shoot, create a corridor for wildlife
