The ancient craft of hedge laying is experiencing a strong revival as farmers use techniques that peaked in the 18th and 19th centuries to boost wildlife, capture carbon and help tackle flooding. Hedge laying, which restores and revives mature hedges to keep them fresh, was among the four most popular categories of capital grants selected by farmers out of a total pot of £225m provided by the government this year to support practical environmental improvements on farms and across the countryside. The 2,500 farmers across England who applied for grants to restore and maintain their mature hedgerows using a craft that dates back thousands of years, will – if the grants are approved – lay 1,300km (800 miles) of mature hedgerows, enough to stretch from Land’s End to Hadrian’s Wall and back.
Megan Gimber, the key habitats officer for the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, said hedge laying was one of the most effective tools farmers had to respond to the climate crisis. They support thousands of species, provide shade for livestock, reduce soil erosion and slow down, absorb and store vast amounts of rainwater to help reduce flooding. Laying the branches down invigorates growth at the point where they have been cut, filling gaps in the hedges and restoring youth and freshness.
It is done by hand by skilled layers – many of whom will compete next month at the National Hedgelaying Championships in Chipping Norton. Robert Rose, who farms 220 acres of grassland for beef cattle and arable fields at Rosewood Farm in Ellerton in Yorkshire’s Lower Derwent valley, is waiting for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to approve his application for a grant to lay old blackthorn, newer hawthorn and ash and willow hedges across his farm. The trio planted new hedges 20 years ago, but maintaining them is vital to keep them working to store carbon, support wildlife and retain water.
Peak hedge laying season starts in October and ends in February so farmers like Rose are hoping for quick decisions from Defra. We see a lot more birds using the hedges and a lot more small mammals around the bottom of mature managed hedges,” said Rose. It spreads around the communities to other farmers, the talk about it is everywhere.
So this grant scheme is exactly what is needed.” As well as grant requests for hedge laying, about 5,000 applications are for planting new hedges – representing approximately 2,500km of new hedgerows, roughly equivalent to the distance from Newcastle to Naples. But without management, the new hedges will not survive. Figures from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in 2023 showed the country is still losing hedges despite record planting efforts through over-trimming and undermanagement.
The centre also discovered that 61% of the newly planted hedges in the survey had been lost since their 2007 survey.
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