Hedgerow Management: I'm confused...

[Stringmaker]

Firstly, apologies if this is in the wrong place but I thought Flora and Fauna would do it.

I live in a rural area and my daily drive to work and just general life involves seeing hedges; miles of them by the roadside and as field boundaries. Now I know that winter is the time for coppicing, hedgelaying etc but I've noticed something that seems somewhat odd.

In the last few weeks there have been many people seemingly grubbing up perfectly good mature hedgerows and then replacing them with nursery saplings in plastic protectors. I am thinking of one specific stretch right now which is about a mile next to the road where the whole boundary hedge is gone.

Is this normal practice or is there some kind of crazy subsidy thing going on if you plant new hedges; regardless if you rip out your mature one?

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Man of Tanith]

I seem to recall my godfather mentioning a subsidy for putting in new hedgerows......
Probably some loop hole to fetal more cash is being exploited there... but I don't know for sure

 

[Bushwhacker]

Could well be privacy screens for some kind of construction work that will take place on the land behind.

 

[wicca]

When I was looking for some woodland, I'm sure amongst all the official deeds, covernants etc: that I ploughed through was something about hedgerow regulations. What you could and could not do, grants etc: Amongst all that there's probably a wheeze for extracting money somehow..

 

[Stringmaker]

Could well be privacy screens for some kind of construction work that will take place on the land behind.

In which case why not leave the existing mature hedgerow in place; that's what I don't get?

I also don't think it's that as this practice is going on in lots of different areas. My cynical suspicion is the subsidy thing; I shall do some research.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Yeah, all farmers do all day is sit back and rake in subsidies.

 

[Stringmaker]

Yeah, all farmers do all day is sit back and rake in subsidies.

I didn't intend to imply anything of the sort.

That said; why grub up mature hedgerows and then replant? It takes time, labour and money to do it so there must be some economic benefit.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Maybe the hedgerows contained the wrong/common species and more diverse species are being introduced.

 

[Stringmaker]

You may be on to something there; I read what DEFRA say about hedges and there is a lot of regulation covering what can/can't be done to them.

It just seems a bit of a coincidence that I have seen what are clearly different landowners miles apart doing the exact same activity at the same time.

 

[Elen Sentier]

I seem to recall my godfather mentioning a subsidy for putting in new hedgerows......
Probably some loop hole to fetal more cash is being exploited there... but I don't know for sure

Unfortunately this sounds very likely - greed !!! You should NOT grub up established hedgerows, it's like what we do people for war crimes for when it's people !!!

 

[Elen Sentier]

Surely nobody thinks DEFRA know what they're doing? Or have any real idea of ecology? They have lots of degrees and head-case learning but no nous!
And does anyone really think we humans know better than nature ... hahahahaha (sourly!)

 

[Stringmaker]

The reason I started this thread is that as an interested layman it seemed an odd thing to do.

In every case the hedges being taken out are mature; the newly planted ones will be of little use for habitat or wildlife corridors for a few years. In one case there has been a new field entrance and gate created which is one of the DEFRA exceptions, but in the other examples I can't see anything going on.

 

[robin wood]

People are using the wording "grubbed up" which I take to mean removal including pulling up roots so they don't grow back. Is this what happened? Or were the trees cut down to the ground? Is the new hedgerow on exactly the same line as the old?

Often times what looks like a mature hedgerow can in fact be very gappy with individual plants many feet apart. You can't underplant because youngsters would be shaded out, cut the old ones down to ground level, plant up the gaps and the old will grow back with the new.

There is no tree planting subsidy that makes a profit, the very best it does is pay for the trees and planting but generally it only pays a proportion. It isn't being done for profit.

 

[British Red]

I've taken out and replaced hedgerows (at my own expense). PLan on doing some more. The existing ones were partially dead, choked with ivy, lacked the appropriate species diversity and wildlife food crops, had to be reduced in height and thickness and had basically gone beyond restoration. I have been chopping down lots of trees too.

 

[Stringmaker]

It seems to be a mixture of ground level coppicing and uprooting; the new planting is on the same footprint.

Robin and Red may have the answer between them in terms of the species diversity, density, etc.

I shall keep my beady eye on the new growth and see what comes up.

 

[robin wood]

"diversity" is in my opinion over valued or misunderstood. To most folk it means buying lots of different species from the nursery but these are all grown from the same quite likely non native and certainly non local seed stock. Tree nurseries are notorious for passing off anything customers will buy, I have bought supposedly native dogwood only to find in spring it was a variegated cultivar. Another conservation project I know of where local seed was af great importance the seed was collected, sent to the nursery whips delivered 3 years later started dying due to introduced root disease, not only that it turned out they were a different variety substituted because the seed sent had not germinated, all too common nursery practice.

Hoopers rule for hedges says that the age of a hedge relates to species diversity 100 years per tree/shrub species http://www.bna-naturalists.org/mags/aut-wintr04/hedges.html

This works remarkably well as a rule of thumb until you get to the late 80s when we all started planting instant 1000 year old hedgerows.

 

[British Red]

It partly depends why you want diversity. Having mainly weed ash and elder, we lacked the correct native species to give us a continuity of blossom (for our bees and the wild insects) and did not have many bearing the right seeds and fruit for the birds and mammals. Its very surprising how even introducing one new species that suits the local soil and wildlife can provide a real boost. A great example is the teasel we have added in - finches go nuts for the stuff. Its easy enough to find local seed for that - but I very much doubt I could for a wild service tree - or that I could get it to germinate if I did.

 

[demographic]

As already mentioned, sometimes the mature hedgerow is straggly and gappy after years of being hacked with a cutter on the back of a tractor, in that case I've seen people (at great expense to themselves) remove the old one and start another which can be managed properly from the beginning.
All the growth will be roughly the same and its a hell of a lot simpler to manage a hedge that's been well looked after all its life as opposed to one that's been neglected for a long period.

Animals can and do get through straggly hedges but a well managed hedge does the job its intended to do well.

 

[WolfCub]

Just a suggestion of what may be happening, without seeing it's just a guess.

If a hedge is gappy or 'leggy' due to previous trimming regime, or has been over invaded with a dominant or fast growing species. Sometimes the best long term management is to cut everything back to ground level, then grub out the invasive or overbearing species selectively. The species you want to keep will have well established root networks and start in the next season to put out a significant amount of new growth from ground level.
At the same time you plant up the gaps with the species you want to put in. Having no overshadowing competion they will grow more quickly than in an establised standing hedge line. The stock you cut back will in a couple of years catch up because of the size of the roots feeding it.

By the time you come back to lay it (or trim) in 5, 6 or 10 years you have a well established mixed hedge in a condition you can really work with. It looks harsh at the start but can be the quickest and most benificial way to rejuvinate an old hedgeline. I've been tutted at, harangued, sworn at and on one occasion threatened with the police (!) by 'well meaning' ramblers or passers by when hedgelaying several times.

As said, just a guess, may be what's happening ?

Duncan

 

[British Red]

I've been tutted at, harangued, sworn at and on one occasion threatened with the police (!) by 'well meaning' ramblers or passers by when hedgelaying several times.

Gods save us all from busybodies! I do wish people who have an opinion on land management would buy some land and actually DO something - rather than just criticising those who are are out there, breaking sweat and managing the land. Failing that, volunteer for someone who has land or a conservation charity. But armchair "conservationists" who haven't planted a tree in a year really get my goat!