In 2008, a farmer and son from Aylesbury costed up laying their hedges in a typical traditional local style, as had been the case on many surrounding farms since the 1950s. However, the farmers were unhappy with the approach that would have to be taken due to the majority of their hedges being very tall and overgrown, most of the trees would have been coppiced and they would have had to deal with a huge amount of vegetation being handled and burned in the field. Also, after costing the whole job it would have been massively unaffordable for them, even with the current agri-environment schemes on offer. The farmers in Aylesbury valued these tall hedges as they provided the only shade and shelter for their beef herd, they also wanted to conserve their value for nesting birds and the huge amount of fruit and flowers supporting pollinating insects. Between them, they thought there must be a cheaper, quicker way of rejuvenating their hedges without losing the dense habitat for nesting birds and retaining the important provision of shade and shelter for their livestock. Wildlife hedgelaying was developed by these farmers using a chainsaw and tractor to carefully pleach and lay the big stems without removing any material whatsoever. Aylesbury Vale Countryside Service were so convinced of the technique providing immediate wildlife habitat on farms, they decided to support this method of hedge rejuvenation through their own grant scheme. The hedges which have been laid using this method are now wide and stock-proof to provide excellent farm biosecurity and in most cases, fencing has not been required.
North Wales Wildlife Trust were introduced to the technique in 2016 and they invited one of the main hedgelaying contractors from Buckinghamshire up to a sheep farm in Wrexham to lay a tall, neglected hedge 300m in length. The entire hedge was laid in 5 hours by three chainsaw operators and a 360 operator, costing a total of £1200. Great tits were literally diving into the hedge as it was being laid, and the hedge retained all of its fruit and flowering in its first year after laying, benefitting pollinating insects like hoverflies, butterflies and bumblebees, and within a year hares and polecats had moved into the dense base of the hedge, which is as close to a ‘long forest’ as you can get!
Our objectives with mechanical hedgelaying are to maximise the conservation value of all habitats, at the same time as providing shelter for our cows, pigs and ponies during the harsh exposed conditions on some of the hillsides in winter, but also shade during the increased periods of drought we have experienced over the past few years. Sure, the hedge looks like a hurricane has gone through it in its first year, but it will regenerate from the crown and the base after the second year and will be back as a tall, broad and thick hedgerow providing a multitude of microhabitats for birds, insects and small mammals. Wildlife doesn’t thrive in tidy, artificial environments, and we wouldn’t spend our limited resources on trimming our hedges to look a certain way but we still could do if we wanted to. We also prefer to leave any snapped stems in the hedge to increase the important deadwood resource for saproxylic beetles and add to the nutrient cycling of the soil. The farmers we have worked with have taken great pride and accuracy in trying to lay such huge stems, they also recognise that coppicing an old hedge like this comes with a huge risk of the regeneration being lost to browsing by deer, sheep, voles and rabbits. As a priority, we want to conserve the Welsh genetics of these old hedgerow trees, being the best locally adapted trees to pests and diseases and being more resilient to the effects of changing climate, rather than bringing in planting stock from other regions.
- Jonathan Hulston. Land Management Advisory Service Development Officer, North Wales Wildlife Trust.
