Hedge Cutting Case Study

Introduction

The vegetation either side of the entrance to a Park & Ride site had not been maintained for several years, other than facing up one side to prevent the vegetation impeding onto the paths and road.

Our Client’s Aim

To restore the vegetation back into a hedge, as it was originally intended when it was planted, at approx. 1.5m in height so that it can be maintained as a hedge going forward.

Our Proposal

• The growth was too thick in diameter to cut with a hedge trimmer but, as the hedges was adjacent to a path and road, it was accessible with our tractor side-arm flail.
• The hedge was mostly cut, both side and top, using our tractor side-arm flail.
• A second operative followed behind the tractor, with a chainsaw and pole-saw, to remove any branches that were too thick for the flail to cut.
• All the cut, and flailed, arisings were thoroughly raked up beneath the hedge to leave a clean and tidy site. It is important to rake up these arisings, particular in built up areas, as otherwise the debris at the base of the hedge keeps building up. In more agricultural or countryside environments, it is common to leave all the flailed arising on site to naturally decompose.

Result

The hedges on both sides of the entrance to the Park & Ride site were reduced to approx. 1.5m in height and cut on both sides to leave a neat and uniform hedge. The hedge can now easily be maintained using either hedge trimmers or re-cutting using the tractor side-arm flail.