THE OLD Conservative Government held a Consultation on Protecting Hedgerows, with submissions closing in September 2023. Oddly, virtually nothing was said about hedge laying.

It is great, of course, that hedgerows are on the governmental agenda and many, I hope, will agree that the new Labour Government should  continue to promote the vibrant advantages of wildlife-rich hedgerows.

The now-closed consultation came as part of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), organised by the DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs). The Plan includes an ambition to create or restore 30,000 miles of hedgerows by 2037, and 45,000 miles of hedgerows a year by 2050.

But as far as I can see, neither document even mentions hedge laying. And for me, a self-styled urban hedge layer, its an issue for towns and cities, not just the countryside.

Hedge laying

Hedge laying, a traditional agricultural skill used to create boundaries since the start of farming, surely has a role to play. I’d argue it has more than ‘a role’. I’d say it is critical because it invigorates growth and produces results more quickly than hedge planting.

The pictures here are at different locations but serve to illustrate the just-laid winter appearance and the re-growth achieved by a following summer.

Well-laid hedges create secure, habitat-rich, living boundaries or borders. Laid hedges are healthy plants with open-ended life cycles. Newly planted hedges need around five years to become established before the hedgelaying cycle can begin. Existing and previously laid hedges require an intensive period of clearing, cutting, staking and binding – but only once every 15 -25 years. Other than that, an annual trim is advisable.

Without hedge laying, though, a hedge can wither and die.

It is possible to lay most trees and shrubs native to the British Isles. Common hedging plants include hawthorn, hazel, blackthorn, field maple, sycamore, ash, oak, elm, and holly. Conifers don’t lay on account of their different, natural, regeneration processes.

Hedgelaying brings improvement in a wide variety of locations, urban and rural; in domestic and public gardens; in parks alongside railways, roads, rivers and airports. It is possible to lay hedges over lengths ranging from five yards to five hundred miles.

Laying out the costs

“But ah,” it is said, “that’s all very well but hedge laying is labour intensive and, therefore, expensive.”

“But ah,” I reply. “Has anyone done any proper research into the cost?”

Hedgelaying may be cheaper than assumed – especially if one counts in the environmental benefits, the creation of satisfying jobs, and the heightened sense of general well-being. Besides, wire, metal and concrete boundaries are expensive too, and have few benefits other than as fences. Meanwhile, ‘dead’ fencing rots and rusts and may need replacing – incurring costs that may be equivalent to re-laying a hedge.

So, here’s my idea for Defra. Please commission authoritative research into the benefits of hedge laying. Let the research combine economic, environmental, employment and land management considerations. It might, for example:

1. compare and contrast the installation and maintenance costs of hedgerows beside equivalent wire or wood-panel fences
2. incorporate environmental value creation (hard to measure, but vital)
3. assess the public benefits of natural environments for the well-being and enjoyment where appropriate, of local residents and visitors
4. bear in mind advantages such as wind and noise buffering
5. suggest there is an opportunity for training and job creation. Hedgelaying skills, though relatively rare at present, could be propagated among practising park keepers and rangers, gardeners, tree surgeons, and similar trades
6. suggest that Network Rail, and the highways, rivers and airports authorities, may be encouraged to explore hedge laying in the context of their enlightened self-interest

Network benefits

By way of a case study, think about Network Rail. It has thousands of miles of trackside barrier boundaries. Typically, if not exclusively, these are made of wire, metal, concrete, brick, or other manufactured materials. These are rarely permanent structures: as with laid hedges, they usually need upkeep. Often, moreover, trees and hedge plants grow alongside the manufactured infrastructure giving rise to risks of falling trees, leaf mould, and root incursion.

These issues could be resolved if costs, which are incurred already, are applied to management practices centred on hedgelaying. At the same time, Network Rail could burnish its credentials as a guardian of wildlife habitat and glean reputational benefits from re-establishing hedge-laying as a satisfying occupation.