Taking simple steps to create flourishing hedgerows
HEDGEROWS look certain to feature large in the plans to ‘green’ agriculture in the UK and so looking after them and even planting more of them, will be a future aim for many farmers.
Now, there’s free advice available to farmers and land managers on how to maintain this iconic habitat throughout its prime hedgerow management season and beyond.
This autumn and winter, wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), is offering free hedgerow management advice to landowners and managers across the UK. Following just six steps will make creating landscapelevel hedgerow management plans much easier, it told The SF.
The aim is to restore and create, a thriving network of healthy hedgerows across the countryside in a bid to ensure the long-term survival and continued health of every UK hedgerow. This not only benefits those working on the land but the myriad native wildlife that call these iconic and hugely important living habitats home too, argued the conservation body.
The charity’s hedgerow management advice is available via PTES’ free Healthy Hedgerows app (available via the Apple Store or Google Play). By answering just six questions the app carries out a quick hedgerow health check and which tells users where their hedgerows are within the natural lifecycle.
It also offers bespoke management recommendations for each hedge and advises which hedges to prioritise for rejuvenation when creating or adjusting their hedgerow management plans.
Sarah Barnsley, hedgerow officer at PTES, explained: “Autumn and winter are the best times of year to assess the health of a hedgerow. The hedge is dormant, and without its leaves you can see its structure and indicators that might show change is needed.
“It’s also the perfect time for trimming, coppicing and hedge laying. But knowing what management work to do first, and when, is key to their long-term survival.
“Our Healthy Hedgerows app has been downloaded more than 2000 times and used to health-check over 800 hedges, spanning 108km, since its launch last year. This is a fantastic start, but as there’s about 500,000km of hedgerow criss-crossing our countryside much more work is needed.
“Hedges will only be healthy long-term through careful management which changes over time. We know farmers, landowners and land managers are busy, which is why we’ve produced this app to make hedgerow management as easy and efficient as possible,” she added.
“Sadly, about half of the UK’s hedgerows have been lost over the last century through incentivised removal, which makes those that remain even more valuable. We hope our app will help secure a positive future for our hedgerows.
“Hedgerows are countryside icons, and are vital habitats for much of our native wildlife, from hedgehogs and hazel dormice to bats and birds. They are safe navigational corridors, nesting sites and provide food. One study even found 2000-plus species within an 85m stretch of hedge in Devon!”
She added that hedgerows were a huge asset to farmers, offering crop protection and act as a stock barrier and livestock shelter. They could also provide income and benefit the environment by acting as carbon stores, helping to reduce flooding, soil erosion, air and water pollution levels.
To further help the rural community to maintain this precious habitat, PTES offers free training courses. Each is in line with the hedgerow management lifecycle, which is based on the 10-point scale developed by Nigel Adams and HedgeLink.
Download the free Healthy Hedgerows app at Apple Store, or Google Play, or see more information at: hedgerowsurvey. ptes. org/ healthy-hedgerows-survey