Hedgelayer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A worker who constructs or maintains hedges by interweaving branches and trimming vegetation along field boundaries
2. Someone skilled in the craft of laying hedges, bending and pleating stems to form dense, living barriers between properties
3. A tradesperson who builds and repairs hedgerows by layering and securing flexible branches into protective boundary structures

Etymology: Hedgelayer is a plain compound of "hedge" and "layer", and the sense is literal: a hedgelayer is a worker who maintains a hedge by "laying" it. Laying means cutting most of the way through the stems of a hedge's shrubs, bending them over at an angle, and weaving or pinning them so they regrow into a dense, stock-proof barrier. The practice is centuries old in the British countryside, and the trade name simply describes the job. The "layer" here comes from the verb "lay," meaning to lay down or set in a position, and it is distinct from the noun "layer" meaning one thing placed on another. Because the same spelling covers both, a reader might first assume a hedge is being built up in strata, but the word refers only to the action of bending and securing the stems.