Hedgerows are often an overlooked feature of our countryside but they are immensely important for biodiversity, connecting habitats, protecting against pollution and fighting climate change. This week (10-17 October) marks National Hedgerow Week – an initiative set up by the Tree Council and this year’s theme is Home Sweet Hedge, it’s all about celebrating hedgerows as homes – for wildlife and for us.

So, just what are some of the benefits of hedgerows?

1. Hedgerows are the UK’s largest priority habitat, providing a home for more than 2,000 species, including 80 per cent of our woodland birds, hedgehogs, most species of bat, the great crested newt, dormice and butterflies. 
2. Hedges cool our environments, both urban and rural. As well as providing shade and cooling to the areas directly around them by releasing water vapour through transpiration, hedgerow trees help provide the conditions for clouds to form, delivering rain and reflecting the sun's rays away from the Earth's surface. Hedgerows and trees release tiny particles into the air that cloud droplets form around and grow.
3. They are also brilliant at capturing carbon – annually, a new hedgerow can absorb the carbon produced by a car travelling over 1,000 km. 

There are many good reasons to plant new hedgerows as the owners of Constantia Manor discovered. Since acquiring the farm in 2000 they have created a private nature reserve from an intensively managed piece of farmland. This has included planting 2 km of new native hedgerows and nurturing the existing hedgerows, which have provided new homes for yellowhammers, linnets and a wide range of resident and migrant species. Also 12 acres of woodland have been planted leading to the return of nightingales.

Further information

Contact Chris Spofforth

National Hedgerow Week 2022