Hedgelaying and Dead Wood.

Hedgelaying is the art of making a living fence out of a row of shrubs by bending them over after cutting through them. Sometimes you have to reinforce the live material with dead wood to improve stockproofness. How much you need to do that can depend on how skilled you are. So when competitions are judged, it is important to consider if too much dead wood was used. There are a number of styles of hedgelaying, some accept dead wood some don't. This can make comparing those styles difficult at a competition where dead wood is discouraged but not forbidden. I'm glad I don't have to decide on that, there's usually some mutttering.