Over 10 volunteers turned out to Dunham Massey and spent a beautiful day hedge laying. The section done last year (some of which is visible in the left of the first photo) was looking good and had grown in the time since we saw it last.
While not strictly before and after photos of a single piece of hedge the pictures give an idea of the stages the hedge goes through. The untouched hedge is overgrown at the top, & has gaps at the bottom. The gaps don't show due to the view point of the photograph - at this site if you stand back and admire your work you are likely to get run over!
Excess material is cut from the sides of the hedge, and thinned from between the plants so that we can get to base and work on the individual plants. 
Each plant is cut part through and folded "pleached" to create a dense barrier - this does not kill the plants and has an effect similar to coppicing - rejuvinated the hedge allowing the same plants to live for far longer than if left alone and making the hedge a better habitat for some of our wildlife.
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