Removing a yew hedge at Biddulph Grange Garden on Sunday 2nd Nov 2014

Five of us arrived at Biddulph Grange(including one newbie) and were met by Paul, the head gardener. We were supposed to be lifting dahlia's but, because it had rained overnight, the ground would have been too muddy to do this, so we were taken to the yew hedge instead. Sections of the hedge are 150years old but it's growing in heavy clay and some parts cannot grow because of the clay. We were told that the entire hedge, on either side of the path, is to be cut down so a trench can be dug to remove a large quantity of clay, drainage laid and better quality soil added to fill the trench, before a new yew hedge is planted.


The 'before shot' of the yew hedge behind Sam and Sue

 All this takes time and there was only so much we could do in a day, but we gave it our best shot!

We quickly got the fire going and were amazed at how quickly the yew burnt. Four of us lopped and bowsawed the yew and dragged the off-cuts to the fire while Adrian (mainly) loaded the fire. We worked hard, stopping only for a mid-morning break and a spot of lunch, before getting back to the task in hand. We managed to remove 2/3rds of the hedge on one side of the path, as requested, leaving 18inches or so of each trunk, to enable it to be winched out later.

There were plenty of visitors to Biddulph Grange that day and we were able to chat to them as they walked past asking what we were doing.

We finished around 3pm and Paul had arranged that we went into the café for a cup of tea and biscuits - a lovely touch at the end of the day:-)

Group shot at the end of the day without the yew hedge!