Hedgerows as fortifications

>>54428903
Normandy used to be full of hedges, some 3 or 4 meters thick. IIRC they worked relatively well.

Kind of a cheaper, civilian/paramilitary response instead of going all out with Hadrian's wall type fortification. It won't stop armies or spies, but it will keep out pursuing warbands or casual lurkers.

>>54428903
Depends on the hedge

Hedges featured a lot as an obstacle in the English civil war so they can , if thick enough, stop people/animals

The British army often fortified their bases with thorn bushes while on campaign in India and Africa, they could and did retard an attack and were difficult to remove if done properly.

So that hedge can probably stop giant wolves and the odd orc band but a determined party with good tools will get through even that hedge in about a day, a week at most if that hedge is really thick and they are idiots, especially if there is no opposition.

>>54428903
As other people have pointed out, it works a lot better for keeping out dangerous animals or the occasional small group of marauders.

With magical plants and a druid enclave backing them up though, you could do a lot better, especially since it won't be easy to just burn away.

File: 1490802874926.png (861KB, 528x690px) Image search: [Google]

861KB, 528x690px

>>54428903
A lot, just look at these nasty brambles we have in real.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuzLXxbGc4c
Billions of sheep and small children are lost to these monstrosities of god every year already, just imagine how terrifying a 20 mile tolkien hedgerow would be. Spray it with magic fertilizer every once in awhile and it'll probably start sniping birds and witches out of the air with bones or something.

>>54429027
There's a lot of foliage that you could use that wouldn't burn. OP mentioned green wood for example.

You'd have to cut through that, and thick tree trunks would take a lot of time to get through without industrial equipment or siege weapons.

>>54428903
Depends what you consider a "hedge" - if you limit it to a literal hedge, even one grown to fairly monstrous proportions you could make things difficult - with exceedingly dense root systems grown into thick embankments and lots of thorns, and very hard to burn down.

If you're more generous with it, including trees and giving it a "thickness" measured in maybe a few hundred meters then you could make a very nasty Hedge indeed (probably more a druid thing)

The Qing Chinese created a massive wall from ditches, ramparts, and interwoven willow trees called the Willow Palisade to fence off Manchuria from the rest of China. It's basically what you're talking about OP

http://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/postcard/lesser-wall

File: Adipose Daughter.jpg (933KB, 2069x1395px) Image search: [Google]

933KB, 2069x1395px

1.) Dig a really long ditch while not being a bitch. Make sure the dirt being dup up is tossed on the side of the ditch that's not open to future attackers.
2.) Gather that dirt and stamp it into a long, tall pile that runs parallel to the ditch. That's a rampart.
3.) Plant a hedgerow on top of the rampart. If in fantasy land, use plants that can fight back or are otherwise too vicious to fuck with. Maybe toss in some hornet nests. Or ant plants. Or strangling willows. Or gay niggas.

>>54429718
Bet that's not the pic you meant to use

>>54429718
>high_con_encounter.jpg

File: Buffet Autopsy.jpg (70KB, 316x239px) Image search: [Google]

70KB, 316x239px

>>54429911
No, I meant to. Imagine THAT mush softness getting stuck in a thorny hedge.

>>54429988
Hmm. That's a thought and a half, though you'd think something THAT large would be able to use their great weight and force their way through

File: dff143a7ce5b020cfa615f9e70ca4e52[1].gif (3MB, 405x214px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 405x214px

>>54431695
>Hmm. That's a thought and a half, though you'd think something THAT large would be able to use their great weight and force their way through