Rural twitter has had a bit of a rumpus over coppicing hedges of late. Here are some short films on a few different hedgerow management techniques, one year after we carried out the work @The_Barker_Boys in mid Suffolk.

This hedge was coppiced to ground level last year, using a tree shear, then dead hedged with the brash retained by a "living stake" of a stool cut at approx 3'6"

Same length of hedge, coppiced with the same method tree shear method but not dead hedged. The browsing from hares and deer has dramatically reduced the regrowth.

The same hedge- this has had a trim with a flail in the past.

Final film (mercufully). Same hedge, coppiced with a shear, the stools then tidied with a chainsaw, then dead hedged with the brash retained by stakes in a dog's tooth pattern. Coppicing is a very useful tool and an important part of your hedgerow management armoury.