IT has been pretty hairy driving around the local roads these last few weeks. It's not that I am a nervous driver. I am actually quite confident behind the wheel and I am quite used to using the small twisting roads. Having been brought up in the countryside, I was driving right from my 17th birthday so that I could stretch my independence, and also give my taxi service mother a break.

It was the amount of standing water lying on the roads that made driving hazardous last week. The worst locations were the open and exposed roads and flooding wasn't due to the rain simply landing and just building up, it was because there was nothing around to help soak it up and take it away. Roads that have good solid hedges on either side rarely suffer from problems of excess water. Not only does the living hedge draw up a good amount of liquid, but traditionally, there would always be a decent ditch on one or either side of the hedge into which the rain could run off.

Ditches, like rivers and streams, were used as boundary markers. The trenches would prevent fields from flooding and assist in retaining livestock, and the ground dug out in creating them would be used as a soft mound in which to plant the young saplings that would later form the hedge.

These hedges were made of many different shrub materials, such as field maple, spindle, holly, hazel and wild rose bushes, but the most commonly used was the hawthorn. It was called a 'quick thorn' hedge, quick meaning living.

If the hawthorn hedge was planted and managed properly, it could be layered. This is a practice that is just coming back into fashion. After five years growth, the trunks of the small trees are sawn half way through and then bent over, almost to breaking point, so that they lie as horizontally as possible. It the land was undulating, the trees would always be bent up the hill. The trunks and branches were intertwined and held in place with 'dead' stakes pushed down at right angles.

In time, the tree puts out new growth, which is much thicker and more substantial, providing a better stock barrier and wind shelter.

It is a very labour intensive method of fencing, but it can last for an indefinite period of time. It is completely natural and therefore provides perfect hiding, nesting and foraging cover for wildlife and birds.

Maintenance is simple, requiring solely a once yearly trim (hopefully before or after nesting season, and leaving the base wider than the top).

By bringing back some of our traditional and almost forgotten skills, surely we can help to eliminate some of our modern day problems as well as improve the quality of our surrounding countryside.

JOBS THIS WEEK

* Plant out shallots

As long as the soil isn't too frosty or damp, mark out straight lines in a prepared bed and place a shallot, bottom end down and two thirds of the way in, every six inches. They should be ready to harvest by the summer.

* Cut back grasses

Ornamental grasses that have been left to die off over winter can be cut right back down to either the new growth or the ground.

* Feed bulbs

Spring flowering bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinths and tulips benefit from a liquid feed at this time of the year. It helps to improve flowering and prepares them for building up the reserves for next year.

GARDENERS' QUESTIONS

MR Foster from Middlesbrough has just obtained an overgrown allotment. He wants to get it into shape, but wants to know if he really has to dig it all over or can he just use a weed killer.

THE weeds that you want rid of are only the visible problems. There may be others lurking under the soil. The soil could be choked full of weed roots that have not yet poked their way through the surface, or there could be tree and shrub roots down there. The topsoil might be shallow, or have been compressed by heavy machinery which would prevent plant roots from establishing.

The benefits of digging over a plot far outweigh the backache of doing it. Digging breaks up compacted areas, improves drainage and aeration and you can remove any weeds, along with their entire root systems. You can also add manures and organic matter to the soil as you go.

Once you have dug it over, leave it for a couple of weeks so that the cold weather will break down the clods, and allow any leftover weeds to show their faces. All you will have to do from there is rake the top few inches into a fine tilthe and plant it up, or sew straight into the soil.

MR Headley of Stockton would like suggestions for climbers to grow over the stump of a felled tree.

YOU will want something that will look attractive all year round. Ivy is evergreen, easy to grow and care for and provides shelter for a variety of wildlife. For more colour, how about trying a clematis montana? Try to find the white variety, or go for clematis armandii, which has a wonderful early fragrance. Roses are good. The thornless zepherine drouhine also has a fabulous perfume, as well as beautiful pink blooms.

POSTSCRIPT

Brigid presents 'Ask about gardening' on BBC Radio Cleveland 95FM, from 12-2pm every Sunday.