Making Hurdles
The reason I made the hurdles at first was to hide an unsightly rubbish tip. I decided they’d look a lot nicer than a garden-style fence.
The wood I used was hazel as it’s easy to bend around the uprights. Length is determined by the area to be hidden and available wood. Fairly straight lengths are needed for the uprights, less so for the weaving. I put the uprights in the earth and hammered them home with a mallet. The lower ends were pointed to make the going easier! They’re about 2 feet apart, the number used varies with the length I need to cover.
The weave sticks were around half an inch in diameter. Most reached from end to end, but here and there two lengths were used. Once complete they were cut to size using croppers. In the hurdles I’ve done so far I’ve not run a length of wood along the top of the uprights. I suspect this might make the structure rather stronger.
I can’t do this at the bottom though as they’re buried to give the required rigidity.
When I hid the tip behind the hurdle there were small trees in the way, some of which I used as uprights for the hurdle, giving a somewhat “rustic” appearance to the finished product! After the rubbish tip, I moved on to making screens for the toilet. Uprights about 7 feet tall were used to give the degree of privacy required for the users. As time has gone on I feel the hurdles are better, they now look rather neater. They’re too transparent for the loo enclosure for my liking, so I’ve used rot-proof black material inside the enclosure, so it looks natural from the outside but is private inside.
I only needed gloves, a saw, croppers, and a length of rope to bind all the thin stuff I’d gathered to make it easier to haul it back to the working area. Thus far I think I’ve only done four hurdles. Getting the wood is time-consuming. Anyone got any suggestions for speeding up this part of the process?
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11 comments so far
Tracy Pepler
15 February, 2008
Do you have any photos of what you have made, sounds great!
I hadn’t thought of banging the uprights into the ground and making the hurdles on site, thanks for that.
Do you find that there is a minimum number of upstakes needed to keep it strong?
Thanks!
Tracy
Andrew Hewitt
19 February, 2008
As far as the posts in the ground go itis better to use lengthsof split chestnut or oak, weave the lower few weaves of the hazel , say 8”, then drop in hazel verticals, called sales or zales, into the weave beside each piece of chestnut then continue the weave up these. Oak and chestnut are fence post material. The hurdle does not last long anyway but at least theuse of these durable woods adds years. For learning hurdle making see www.hewittmobilesaw.co.uk
River
19 February, 2008
Hello Tracy,
Sorry to be abit slow,the number and spacing of the upstakes varies with
the thickness of the wood you’ll use to weave the hurdle.The thicker or
stiffer this is,the farther apart your upstakes will need to be.
I have a few pictures of what’s been done thus far,but sending them’s
another matter!
Regards,
River.
barry nurse
20 April, 2008
HI RIVER
if you have a bit of room in your garden why not grow the hazel from cuttings or seed.my neighbour feeds a family of squirrels who bury peanuts & hazel/cobnuts all over the place,the former never make it but free trees,yes!this year i plan to transplant all into beds.so within a couple of years the saplings should be large enough to use, well fed with tree mould & comfrey juice.alternatively,try your local parks dept,i use ash for the weavers on some fixed hurdles, i have plenty all around my patch.they last a few years or so,free to me the only cost is cutting time,use & adapt what you can find around you.my three tortured hazel shrubs constantly sprout straight growth from their rootstocks, whitch can be used for cuttings as well….hope this info is of use to you….barry
River
21 April, 2008
Hello Barry,
Alas I don’t have the room in my smallish walled garden to grow much in the way of trees-
just wish I did!Might plant some at the wood to make the campsite a little more private
though,so your message wasn’t in vain,thanks.
Best wishes,River.
River
21 April, 2008
Hello Andrew,
Sorry not to have replied earlier,my infernal computer’s been rather sick and has been in
intensive care as it were.
You’re obviously much more experienced than I,thankyou for your advice.Will definately try
these ideas out!
Many thanks,River.
Mary
4 June, 2008
Hi Andrew
I live in the Western Isles in an old farm house 100 years approx with extensive garden ground. At the foot of the walled garden there are numerous trees. Hawthorn, Pines and Willow Trees, Fuscia, wild roses and Rhododendrums in abundance. It has been allowed to grow pretty wild and I have sawn back a number of shrubs and trees resulting in new growth. With the broken branches etc I am hoping to make a hurdle to hide the cuttings with some willow shoots. Perhaps some old branches from the pine may fill in some gaps as well. I am thinking of using the willow to weave - will it work?
Mary
4 June, 2008
oops! Sorry Andrew, meant my last comment for River
River
6 June, 2008
Hello Mary,
You should be okay with thin willow-it’s quite bendy!Sounds as if you’ve quite a jungle to
deal with!
Mary
13 June, 2008
Thanks for your reply River.
Yes the area is quite a jungle. Rabbits love it. Mostly I enjoy watching the birds. We have a brown owl circulating - not sure if its after the birds eggs or the rabbits, gladly the owl doesn’t stand a chance with all the branches in its way.The cuckoo is doing my head in with the noise but it is enjoying other birds nests.. A lonely high naked branch from an old fir provides a good perch for a sea eagle., so I won’t be chopping it down.
Thinking I might have to make a deer fence/hurdle,as I spotted a young deer over the wall today - would it be interested in eating the sawn off branches? or should I have Venison for tea?
Adam F, London, UK.
28 July, 2008
Making hurdles can also be a good workout. The traditional way of making them involves using long hazel poles horizontally and bending them round at the end of the hurdle. This involves bending and twisiting the hazel rod at the same time to get it to bend 180 degrees without breaking. This is incredibly hard work. A friend of mine did this for a living, when he took it up full time he lost 2 stone in 2 months… Using croppers is a lot easier and fine for most purposes. Trad hurdles had to be more robust as they were constantly being moved around from field to field. Alex still makes woodland products but not so many hurdles these days:
http://www.cleftwood.com/
Adam.