Hedges on Stilts

Today’s visits were to Erddig House and Chirk Castle in North Wales.  We were disappointed in the castle but Erddig was very interesting but we really did not have enough time there.  On a short guided tour of the gardens I was very interested to hear one of the main reasons for pleaching trees during the 17th and 18th centuries.  Pleaching, sometimes described as “hedges on stilts,” is a style of growing trees in a line, usually straight, with the branches of the tree tied together and clipped to form a flat plane above the bare trunk. The branches are tied onto canes or wire to make tiers, and are then regularly pruned to keep their shape. Sometimes they naturally graft themselves onto one another.  
They are very labour intensive and take “ten man weeks” at Erddig to keep the lime trees in shape using secateurs.  Having an avenue of pleached trees meant that the ladies could walk in the garden along a cool shady path without blocking the view into the garden at eye level. The leaves would gave shade to protect their faces because having a pale complexion and hands meant that the lady did not need to work, unlike most of the people.
Just now pleached laburnum and wisteria trees can be seen in places as covered walks or tunnels showing off the hanging flowers.
Erddig House has over 180 varieties of fruit trees, many of which were still in blossom, and also the National Collection of Ivy but many of them looked very similar to me. I think there are about ninety kinds.