together. In total, they support 15% of our native broad-leaved trees, 600 species of flowering plant, 1,500 species of insect, 65 species of bird and 20 species of mammal. To say they are diverse in flora and fauna would be a vast understatement. A key role that hedgerows play is that they
are effectively a long narrow belt of vegetation that provides a habitat link that allows species to pass safely from one to another. This ‘connectivity’ is vital for many species to prevent them from becoming isolated in a single area. For instance, Dormice populations are directly related to hedgerow width, height and diversity, and their numbers are declining along with the hedgerow.
Hedgerow regulations
For those golf clubs or other land owners lucky enough to have retained stretches of hedgerow, there are now regulations in place to protect them. The Government Hedgerow Regulations 1997 protects ‘important’ hedgerows. Taking into account the recent rate of decline, all hedgerows should be deemed as important but, in this instance, the regulations pertain to hedgerows of a certain age (over 300 years), size (over 20 metres long), species content, historical significance and certain other factors including their locality to banks, mounds, ditches and other watercourses. In addition to these regulations, some trees within hedgerows may be subject to tree preservation orders. If a club does have a hedgerow within its grounds, it is well worth checking out its protection status. Although hedgerows have been in severe decline throughout the latter half of the 20th century, the protective measures put in place are beginning to slow their loss. Indeed, the planting of new hedgerows is now being positively
Common Blue Nesting Blackbird Bee Dormouse Did you know?
• Hedges have been used as field boundaries in England since Roman times. Excavations at Farmoor (Oxfordshire) reveal Roman hedges made of thorn.
• The most common hedge species are Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Bramble and Holly.
• One length of hedge can be home to over thirty species of butterflies.
• Hedges are not common across the whole of the UK but are usually seen in the lowland regions of England. In the highlands, such as the Yorkshire Dales and Scotland, dry stone walls are commonly used.
encouraged. Bearing in mind the benefits mentioned earlier, the
How to age a hedgerow
take a number of years to mature, they can be protected from trampling and, indeed, the golf course from intruders, simply by laying a thick mesh of hawthorn cuttings along both sides of the hedgerow. Once established, the benefits of a hedgerow will far outweigh those of artificial methods of segregation.
Hedgerow management on the golf course
To maintain a healthy hedgerow, it needs to be managed. They require trimming every few years and occasionally coppiced to prevent the woody plants separating out into individual trees. This would be best done on a phased basis, focussing management on one third of the hedgerow per year (i.e. full maintenance working on a three-year rotational basis). When carrying out management, take care not to take out young establishing trees. These should be left alone and allowed to develop. Maintaining this infrequent management programme can keep a hedgerow looking at its best almost indefinitely. Hedgerows provide a unique degree of connectivity for species around the country and their presence as part of our landscape should be both preserved and encouraged.
The Ecology and Environment Unit within STRI is currently expanding rapidly and offers a variety of services for new golf developments including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), landscape design, impact mitigation and habitat enhancement, as well as providing habitat management plans and ecological surveying of existing golf developments. If you require any further information on hedgerow planting, maintenance or general ecology please contact STRI’s Ecology and Environment Unit on 01274 565131 or email
bob.taylor@stri.co.uk Richard Stuttard is the most recent addition to STRI’s expanding Ecology and Environment Unit working from head office in Bingley, West Yorkshire.
A hedgerow is made up of many different shrub and tree species. Over time, more and more species will colonise adding greater and greater diversity. As such, species diversity can be used to provide an approximation of hedgerow age. The method for this rough age determination is very simple:
Step 1: Mark a starting point at a section of hedgerow and walk 30 paces along from this and add another marker. You now have your start and finish points.
Step 2: Starting at your first marker, and working along the transect, count the number of different woody species present within the hedgerow.
Step 3: Add your number of species into the following equation:
Age of hedgerow = 100 x number of woody species. For example if you discovered 5 different species within your 30 pace transect the approximate age the hedgerow would be 100 x 5 = 500 years.
Step 4: Repeat steps 1 to 3 for each 100-metre section of hedgerow.
This method is believed to give a result accurate to a range of +/- 100 years. Not very useful you might say but, when you bear in mind that some hedgerows in the UK can be in excess of 800 years old, you are still getting a basic indication of which period in history a hedgerow dates back to.
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planting of new hedgerows should be considered as an ecologically friendly, practical, and secure method of segregation on the golf course. There is plenty of literature available on how to establish a new hedgerow and, whilst they
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