pleach
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: plēch
ipa: /pliːtʃ/
ipa: /plit͡ʃ/
rhymes: -iːtʃ
Forms: form: pleaches
Etymology: The verb is from Late Middle English pleshe, Middle English plechen, pleche (“to layer; to propagate (a plant) by layering, to pleach”), possibly from Anglo-Norman and Middle French plesser, plessier, Middle French plescer, variants of Middle French, Old French plaissier, plessier (“to plash”), from Late Latin *plaxus, from Latin plexus (“braided, plaited, woven; bent, twisted”), perfect passive participle of plectō (“to braid, plait, weave; to bend, turn, twist”).
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: Not a dryad of the beeches, / Through the filmy forest-reaches, / That a tress of summer pleaches, / But had owned her queen; [...]
ref: 1859, Leander Clark, “Elesta”, in Kenridge Hall, and Other Poems, Washington, D.C.: Published by Franklin Philp; Tho[ma]s McGill, printer, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 6:
synonyms: plash
glosses: An act or result of interweaving; specifically, (horticulture) a hedge or lattice created by interweaving the branches of shrubs, trees, etc.
examples: text: These stems should be stripped (or nearly so) of their branches, and notched at the bottom (in the way which every hedger knows) to form a pleach: these pleaches should be laid in the intervals along the line of the stubs, and again notched, [...]
ref: 1821, Francis Blaikie, “Cutting of Hedges Continued”, in A Treatise on the Management of Hedges, and Hedge-row Timber, new edition, London: Printed [by Mowlett and Brimmer] for John Harding, […], →OCLC, page 41:
text: The pleaches are laid over all in the same direction and stakes are driven in so as to come alternately behind and in front of the stems laid over, but the ends of the pleaches are made to finish all on one side, that is to say, on the opposite side of the hedge to the notches. [...] The hedger treads down his pleaches so as to make a firm and solid hedge and winds round the tops of the stakes long, clean rods of hazel, [...]
ref: 1934, T[homas] Hennell, “Hedges and Ditches”, in Change in the Farm, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At the University Press, →OCLC; 2nd edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: At the University Press, 1936, →OCLC, page 40:
topics: agriculture
business
horticulture
lifestyle
glosses: A branch of a shrub, tree, etc., used for pleaching; a pleacher.
examples: text: Traditional hedge laying involves, first, clearing away undergrowth and weeds, particularly from a hedge that has been neglected and allowed to grow tall. Untidy side branches are removed. A cut, known as a pleach, is made in the back of the trunk, leaving a 'hinge'; old-time hedgers recommend that this should be as thick as a lamb's tongue.
ref: 2007, Holly Kerr Forsyth, “Hedges”, in The Constant Gardener: A Botanical Bible, Carlton, Vic.: The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Publishing, →ISBN, page 221:
text: When laying hedges, notches (pleaches) are cut in branches that are to be bent (the bent bits must go upwards, otherwise the sap will not run).
ref: 2009, Tony Atkins, “Unrestrained and Restrained Workplaces: Dynamic Cutting”, in The Science and Engineering of Cutting: The Mechanics and Processes of Separating, Scratching and Puncturing Biomaterials, Metals and Non-metals, Oxford, Oxfordshire; Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann, →ISBN, section 10.1 (Introduction), page 245:
topics: agriculture
business
horticulture
lifestyle
glosses: A notch cut into a branch so that it can be bent when pleaching is carried out.