Native Hedges - March 2025

You may have noticed some activity going on at the Kitchener Rd entrance to the Rec and the subsequent appearance of some strange tube-like features which appear to have sprouted from the ground. Not an avant-garde sculpture, but the makings of a wildlife hedge.

Les, one of our Friends who headed up the project, has recently been volunteering with the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE). on their Hampshire Hedge project. Their plan is to create hedging which will connect the New Forest National Park with the South Downs National Park, winding its way through Hampshire and linking habitats such as woods and nature reserves as it goes. CPRE kindly donated some native whips (small bare root shrubs) for use at the Rec.

The whips have been planted, staked and given the plastic collar to protect them whilst they become established. We definitely don't want them to be nibbled by squirrels! The species are predominantly hawthorn and dog rose. This is the second section of mixed native hedgerow at the Rec; the first having been planted by the Council as an extension of the beech hedge, on the opposite side of the park.

Hedgerows are a quintessential part of the British landscape. But unfortunately, a considerable number have been removed since World War II, and a lot of what remains is in a poor condition. However, we're now recognising the huge value of our native hedgerows, not only for the wildlife they support, but also for the environmental services they provide.

Hedges play host to many species of fauna, providing them with shelter and food, and creating a green corridor through which they can move safely through the countryside. This ability for species to spread over a wider distance facilitates genetic diversity, which is essential for maintaining healthy populations. Hedges also help to absorb carbon from the atmosphere, alleviate flooding, improve air quality and prevent soil erosion.

In order to maintain the hedge in good condition and of continuing value to wildlife, it needs to be maintained properly. Many of them are now cut using mechanised flails, both for ease and economy. This method causes a great deal of damage and with repeated use, the hedge becomes thin and species poor. But amongst conservationists, the age-old technique of hedge laying is very much on the rise and there are a now many courses available. Although more labour intensive, a well laid hedge is a wonder to behold, and apparently there are a number of regional variations in technique...but that's one for the experts!

I've just been reading an article written by a German person who says that hedges are one of the first things they notice, when they return to the UK because they are far less common in Germany. But our hedgerows have a checkered history and their fortunes are very much tied to the socio-economic circumstances of the time

Originally they were mainly planted to mark boundaries and protect livestock and crops. But they had little place in the feudal system where strip farming and shared common land were the norm. Then landowners increasingly sought to manage their own assets by enclosing their property. This process was accelerated during the 17th and !8th Centuries following the introduction of a series of Parliamentary Enclosure Acts. Thousands of miles of hedgerow were planted to exclude the 'lower orders'; one estimate suggest 200,000 miles in the century preceding 1850.

However, with developments in agriculture, including increasingly large machinery and the perceived need to improve efficiency, hedgerows started to be grubbed out, to make larger fields and bring every square inch into production. The Second World War pointed to the need for Britain to be self-sufficient in food production, and in later years, the EU's Common Agricultural Policy subsidized farmers to improve yields by measures such as removing hedges.

As with all things, we are now coming full circle, and just as we've done here at the Rec on a teensy-weensy scale, people are planting hedgerows, not only in recognition of all the benefits they bring..........but just because they're a beautiful!! Conjure up in your mind a bucolic country scene, and I'm willing to bet that it includes a glorious hedgerow. And there's a great need to provide this sort of habitat in cities too...so keep an eye on our small contribution as it hopefully grows and flourishes.

Denise Long