Hedgelink
The Tree Council are chair of Hedgelink, a coalition of organisations passionate about Britain’s hedgerows. The group brings together everyone interested in hedgerows to share knowledge and ideas, encourage and inspire, and work with farmers and other land managers to conserve and enhance hedgerows across the country.
As a partnership, Hedgelink offers help and support for all those with an interest in hedgerows and works to influence policy and public expenditure to protect hedgerows for the future.
Close the Gap
The Close the Gap programme focuses on achieving bigger, healthier, better-connected hedgerows through planting and ‘gapping up,’ gathering and sharing knowledge, improving supplies of future hedgerow trees and engaging the public with our hedgerow heritage.
The project is funded by the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund, which is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency. Project partners include The Tree Council, the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, Moor Trees, the University of Reading, Future Gardeners and Hedgelink.
Planting hedgerows
There are no real do’s or don’ts of hedge planting – be as experimental as you like, but follow a few basic guidelines.
- Plant vigorous plants like blackthorn, plum and hawthorn towards the back of your hedge. Try growing things that scramble like vines, blackberries, wild roses and raspberry canes through this and plant fruit bushes like currants and gooseberries to the front or on the south facing side.
- Plan to plant your hedge in the winter when plants are dormant, this means they will have time to settle in and put down roots before they come into leaf in the spring.
- Plant in staggered rows with plants about 30cm apart and think about the space you have available – your hedge can be as long as you like and anything from 60cm to 2 meters wide depending on how many rows of hedging plants you plant, but remember if you want to pick the fruit you need to make it accessible.
- You may want to consider using tree protection methods if, for example, deer or rabbits in the area are likely to damage your young plants. Read more in our guidance here.
- You can also plant fruit trees in your hedge – try apples, pears and cherries as well as nuts like hazel, walnut and almond.
Once you have planted your hedge it will need a little looking after, particularly in its first couple of years.
Mulch around the base of the hedge with wood chip to keep down weeds that compete for water and water in dry spells particularly in the spring and early summer in the first year.
Remove any guards or netting after a few years when the hedge has established and let the bottom of the hedge fill with weeds and wild flowers that are also great for wildlife.
If the backbone of your hedge is made up of woody shrubs like blackthorn, mirabelle and hawthorn, these will need to be cut back in the autumn or winter when the hedge is dormant and when there is no risk of disturbing wildlife.
To maximise fruit production and wildlife value and create a truly wild hedge – cut the hedge back on a 2 to 4 year cycle rather than trim every year.