Hedgerows: Secret Gardens That Support Sustainable Agriculture

The lofty hedge - it's both a victim of topiary madness and the alternative to a fence for those who farm. It's also a secret garden that supports sustainable agriculture across Britain. There are nearly two million hedgerows in Britain. Many of them sit beside farm fields and delineate the boundaries of these fields. They also create a boundary that sheep and other livestock find difficult to cross. The hedgerow plays another, more subtle role in British agriculture. In an area with open fields, hedgerows are a refuge for wildlife and help support a sustainable farm ecosystem.

Many hedges have been safeguarding farms for hundreds of years. Ancient hedges can date back to Saxon times, making them a thousand years old. Plants like hawthorn are common in hedgerows, and these planted areas also support more than two hundred species of non-hedge plants like ferns and flowers. These diverse and thriving rows of plants prevent soil erosion and create wildlife habitat and wildlife corridors, a last refuge of wildness in a human-dominated landscape.

How can a shrub be so important in the ecological life of a farm? On a farm that strives to connect with its local ecosystems, refuges for wildlife are important. Bees are critical pollinators of farm crops, as are butterflies. Hedgerows are a place where wildflowers still grow, so they are important food sources for these pollinating insects. Most hedgerow plants are deciduous, which means that they lose their leaves in the fall. This layer of leaves is an important place for beneficial insects to survive the winter and replenish their populations in the spring. For larger animals, hedgerows are also sanctuaries. Birds eat the insects that can eat farm crops, and they hide their nests in nearby hedgerows. Larger predators like foxes use hedgerows as roadways to hunt mice and rats, animals that eat food crops.

Hedgerows are not only places for wild animals: they also conserve farm soil. Soil is a valuable commodity, and when there are no barriers between farms soil can blow easily from farm to farm. This has been a problem in East Anglia where many hedges have been removed. Hedges sustain the soil because they form a physical barrier between farms. They're also a permeable windbreak, allowing some air to flow in and out but preventing the wind from moving soil from farms.

Hedgerows are an ancient human invention, and they have grown to play an essential role in sustaining an ecologically diverse and thriving farm. The hedgerows that people have created are a source of pollinators and predators that play a part in the sustainable farm. To those who consider the farm to be an ecological system of sorts, hedgerows are a quiet addition to sustainable agriculture: they are secret gardens for wildlife whose ecological interactions can help a farm thrive.