Aye, we're re-establishing hedges on our smallholding and we've laid existing hedges of the appropriate age/height over the past three years or so. We don't have much in the way of livestock so the purpose of our hedges is to:
Remove the need for fencing (materials, labour and cost);Provide shelter for our young trees and crops, and;Provide secondary yields of firewood, fruit and biodiversity.
If we had livestock, hedges would also provide shelter and shade for them. In places where wind erosion is an issue then I imagine that hedges could help to alleviate it in a similar fashion to shelter belts albeit in a lesser fashion due to less height. John is right in saying that hedge laying can be labour intensive; I find it a preferable form of labour when compared to putting up fences though.
Although none of my family are particularly expert at hedge laying, it's something that we all get a great deal of enjoyment from. I'd upload a picture of one of our hedges but you're better off looking at examples on the internet! We've been contending with poorly maintained hedges and trees the past few years but, once our new hedges become established and old hedges grow into better form, the process of hedge laying should become quicker and easier and the result much prettier!
Edit to add: The best guide to hedge laying that we own is a a decades old BTCV handbook on the subject. I doubt it ever got published in the USA but you might be able to pick up a second hand copy online, or a new handbook from
The Conservation Volunteers (formerly the BTCV).
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