Hedge Architecture

Hedges, Waikuku Beach. Jan. 2009. Ajr

I've shown you plenty of my favourite hedges - just click on Hedges in the label line below if you need to refresh your memory - but now I'm doing 'the inside job' - unveiling the cross-beams, the architectural support system. I've always admired the bulk and heft of a good strong hedge - their almost animate qualities, the tightness of their weave - and when you peek inside a hedge you see all the inner workings that make that possible - the tangle of branches and twigs that have knitted in and out and over and around to create the framework for that green spongy cushion we see on the outside. When I was a child growing up in the Waikato, I loved to make huts inside hedges; now, as much as I admire the inner workings, the thought of getting in there with all those bugs and beetles gives me the creeps.