Have to disagree about how often to cut a farm hedge for the best result for the hedge.The farm hedge definitely needs cutting once every year in autumn or winter and can say that it is absolutely certain as for a long period to help wildlife and get the grant we cut our farm hedges every two years and would say the following.(1 The hedge deteriorated but hopefully birds had many more berries(2 The surprise was it did not save money because it took twice as long to cut and as we paid by the hour we were no better off except a very small grant.
Think if anyone leaves the garden hedge 2 years between each trim they would find the same thing that the hedge became more open in the lower section and over a period would deteriorate so before people critisize farmers who cut every year they need to think or ask why do they do that.Farmers who cut the hedges every two years are definitely only doing so to help birds with more berries.
Sooty, i'm afraid i'm going to disagree with you on this one, rotational cutting improves the structure of the hedge creating thick growth which increases nesting sites for birds like song thrushes as well as the benefits to wintering birds in terms of berry production, that is why it is the recommended option for hedge management for wildlife. The only need to cut annually that I can see is if the hedge is at a road side or path and access/visibility is an issue. If you want an over manicured, neat and tidy hedge all the time then cutting annually is the way to go but it won't help the birds or other wildlife in the slightest.
This is going a bit off topic but it might be of interest, Sooty, if your hedge was looking leggy and reduced at the lower level, maybe the side cuts had been a bit over zealous or the hedge had not been cut for a number of years consecutively. Was there any spray drift into it or was the hedge a recently planted one (newly planted hedges need more regular trims to get them into the desired thickness and shape)? These could explain the poor growth you saw in the base of your hedge.
If the cut took twice as long then maybe you should have considered cutting the hedge into a different shape to minimise the cuts needed, were you going for an 'A' shape, box or chamfered? Some require only two passes with the flail some four!
We have some more information in the attached document specifically for farm hedges that you might be interested in!
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
Hi Sooty, I've split this thread as the direction it is going in is taking it away from the original post. It would be interesting to hear your response to the above comments!