Hedgerows are maintained, enhanced and expanded to support wildlife and provide corridors that connect habitats across the county.  
The priority is to protect and expand existing hedges, increase wildlife-friendly hedgerow management methods, and establish new hedgerows.

Hedgerows are lines of trees or shrubs, often planted as boundary lines around fields or gardens, they can include features like banks, walls, ditches, fences and gates within the hedge. Hedgerows are a Habitat of Principle Importance and are of high ecological value, even hedgerows consisting of mainly one native species qualify as priority habitat. 

In Dorset, hedgerows are a key feature of the landscape, they perform a vital role in supporting some of the UK’s rarest species such as brown hairstreak butterflies and dormice. When managed to have a diverse structure and species mix, hedges can support a variety of wildlife, such as birds, bats, hedgehogs, lizards and pollinators. Hedgerows are also corridors that help wildlife travel between nature-rich areas, providing important connectivity across the farmed landscape and between urban areas. Hedgerows are integral to the landscape and its ecological function.

Hedgerows also help reduce soil erosion, run-off, and flooding by slowing the flow of water across the landscape, which can in turn help improve water quality. They help absorb pollution and carbon from the air, helping to improve air quality and tackle climate change, as well as providing shelter and shade for livestock.

The goal is to have thick, diverse and dense hedgerows, but hedgerows are dynamic living habitats, so their management also needs to be adaptive. Managing hedgerows on a cycle can help ensure they continue to thrive for nature. The Adams Hedgerow Management Scale adapted by PTES is a helpful tool to understand where a hedge currently is within the management cycle:
  • dense and well managed hedges
  • over-trimmed hedges
  • tall and overgrown hedges
  • recently rejuvenated hedges

Typical hedgerow species

Brown hare
Hawthorn
Bunting bird on a fence post
Oak
Corn marigold
Bumblebees

Nature recovery in action

The Great Big Dorset Hedge project connects community volunteers and farmers in a shared goal of restoring and expanding hedgerows across Dorset. Farmers can sign up to have their hedgerows surveyed by volunteers, the survey report provides farmers with key information on hedge health to inform their management plan and to secure funding to maintain and enhance their hedges through Environmental Land Management schemes.

The project supports hedge planting activities, and some volunteers have been learning about traditional hedge laying practices from local experts.  Currently, over 400 volunteers are coordinated by a team of specialist contractors, as they undertake surveys and planting projects across more than 100 farms. More volunteers, more specialist contractors and more farmers are welcome - if you’d like to get involved email [email protected]
Pasture-reared beef cows at Traveller’s Rest farm

Potential activities

See what activities people can carry out to help achieve this priority. You can view them all, or just look at the one most relevant to you. These activities are a guide and are not exhaustive, as there are many small activities involved in habitat management and restoring ecosystems.

The activities and Dorset’s nature recovery maps provide a starting point, but additional land management and ecological advice will often be needed to support activities on individual sites. 

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Select the sector you're interested in to see the relevant activities for this priority.
 

Explore all potential activities

Listed here are all the potential activities for this priority:
  • survey hedgerows to understand current structure and diversity and identify what restoration work is needed. Community volunteers can be a great help to do this at scale
  • manage a hedge on a cycle, such as the Adams Hedgerow Management Scale adapted by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
  • improve hedge structure by avoiding cutting the hedge to the same height each year, instead use incremental cutting to trim hedges about 10cm higher and wider each time
  • reduce hedge cutting to every 2 or 3 years. Over a larger site, cut a selection of hedges across different parts of the site on rotation
  • leave cutting until late winter (December to January) to allow wildlife to feed on berries and fruit through winter, but before the hedges start growing in spring
  • do not cut hedgerows during the bird nesting season (1 March – 31 August) to avoid disturbing nests, eggs or chicks which are protected by law. If you discover nesting birds outside of the bird nesting season dates, it is still a crime to disturb them. Birds often start setting up territory before the season begins, so it is ideal to get cutting done in December to January. Follow national hedgerow management rules, which include exemptions for situations like managing hedgerows overhanging roads for driver safety
  • protect old trees within the hedgerow, and identify some new plants within the hedge that will be allowed to grow up into mature hedgerow trees
  • fill in gaps in hedgerows by planting native shrubs and trees to improve structure and diversity
  • encourage a diverse range of tree, shrub and plant species in hedges, as well as scrub and wildflower banks alongside hedgerows
  • create grassy buffer strips alongside hedges with a variety of wildflowers to increase diversity and connectivity
  • plant new hedges with native trees (ideally every 20m) and shrub species that are found in the local area, and use a mix of different species to support a variety of wildlife
  • when creating or enhancing hedgerows, plant double hedgerows where possible as these provide sheltered corridors favoured by bats
  • maintain or establish hedges in places that will connect habitats, such as other hedges, woodlands, grasslands or orchards
  • consider using hedge laying or hedge coppicing to help restore hedgerows 
  • keep and enhance existing hedgerows within building developments, and use hedgerows rather than fences and walls around homes, gardens, footpaths, roads and public greenspaces
  • where appropriate, allow hedges to grow tall (over 3m) to give bats the opportunity to hang up and feed, while keeping a diverse and dense hedge structure overall 
  • create or enhance scrub alongside hedgerows as important transitional habitat and increase connectivity between hedgerows and other habitat types