Hedge laying

The Stichting Heg & Landschap (Hedge & Landscape Foundation and the Dutch Hedge Layers Guild uphold the values of the hedge laying craft. The large group of volunteer hedgelayers consists of experienced hedgelayers and people who have followed a hedge laying course. There are some professional hedgelayers. Local nature and landscape groups are ever more interested in hedge laying. The Dutch Maasheggenvlechten (a special kind of hedge laying) Championship attracts thousands of visitors each year.

Hedge laying happened in the Roman era already. Hedges were laid in large parts of Europe into the nineteenth century. As of the nineteenth century hedge laying has become mainly important to keep the cattle in the meadow. After the introduction of barbed wire in the second decade of the twentieth century, many hedges were grubbed up. After World War II barbed wire was widely applied. The hedge laying craft remained in existence on a very small scale. In the seventies and eighties the interest in hedge laying went up a bit. At the beginning of the twenty-first century the Badger & Tree Society and the Earth Foundation started campaigning to explicitly draw attention to hedge laying. They launched campaigns like: ‘Barbed wire out and hedges in again.’ In 2003 the Hedge & Landscape Foundation was established. In 2006 the Hedge & Landscape Foundation organised the first Maasheggenvlechten Championship, in cooperation with IVM Maasvallei and the State Forest Service. The championship has been held every year ever since. As of 2012 the Dutch Hedge Layers Guild has helped to pass the hedgelaying craft on to others. Authorities, landscape organisations and scientific institutions like the Dutch Institute for Ecology are attaching more and more value to hedge laying. Hedges are nowadays laid on behalf of nature, biodiversity, scenic beauty and a livestock- and people-proof barrier along paths.