Guide To Cutting Hedgerows

Hedgerows are a precious asset. It is important that they are properly maintained

Hedgerows mark boundaries, provide stock-proof barriers to keep farm and wild animals in or out of fields and, in days gone by, served as a source of firewood and ingredients for blackberry jam and sloe gin. Hedgerows also play a role in flood control and erosion, climate regulation, screening and noise reduction.

Of course, hedgerows are also tremendously important for wildlife. They are complex ecosystems and provide shelter, food and movement corridors for mammals, birds and insects. It is estimated that there are about 400,000km of hedgerows in the UK and, of this, about half are ancient or species-rich.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee say: “Hedgerows are the most significant wildlife habitat over large stretches of lowland UK and are an essential refuge for a great many woodland and farmland plants and animals.” But hedgerows need maintaining, and it is up to the estate or land manager to decide how and when.