Managing Hedgerows

Unfortunately it also destroys all of the berry crop - perhaps late winter would be better?

CJ

By late winter birds are already choosing their nest sites for Spring. There's probably never a perfect time to cut the hedges so the best practice is to only cut them on a three or four year cycle. The ones that are cut this year don't get done again for three years.

Hedges need cutting every year to be kept in best condition and in the case of leaving berries for birds every other year is acceptable but can you imagine gardeners leaving cutting hedges for 3 or 4 years.Would suggest most gardeners cut hedges several times each year so they should not expect farmers to spoil hedges by unacceptable times between cutting.

What should be happening but bird organisations do not want to get involved is to lobby for large Hawthorn bushes to be left in corners of fields where it is difficult for farm machinery to get into and these bushes left uncut would provide masses of berries.This could then be part of the HLS farm payment.

All this about when to cut hedges is irrelevant on most farms as the ground is often too wet for tractor and hedge trimmer once Winter sets in so farmers are often forced to trim them in Autumn.

Afraid whenever the farmers,or their contractors, cut their hedges they would be in the wrong in some peoples views.

I have noticed around where I live there are sections of hedge where Hawthorn trees have been allowed to grow through at intervals along its length.

I'd recommend having a read of the attached and the links here and here.

Late winter cuts (February ideally) on a three year rotation plan allowing for loads of berries, a healthy thick hedge and growing bird population - we can dream can't we!

Garden hedges and farm/country hedges are very different, usually in species composition, use and therefore management. Managing a native hawthorn hedge as a field boundary is a totally different approach to what is required for a llelandii hedge bordering a residential property. Anyone who tackles both with the same approach shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a power tool!

Lots of us have Hawthorn garden hedges,much better for birds than llelandii that are generally hated by lots of people anyway.

As stated if the ground is too wet in winter it absolutely rules out cutting in winter and having cut hedges on the farm on two year rotation they definitely were worse for it rather than yearly cutting and ironically while obviously better for berries on two year cutting it worked out no cheaper as when they were cut it took the contractor twice as long.

Would be far better if RSPB made less fuss about farmers hedge cutting and tried to get them to provide a few mature Hawthorn bushes in corners of fields that are difficult for machinery to get into,these type of bushes need never be cut and provide masses of berries that ordinary hedges never get anything like.

Were we even talking about farmers specifically, Sooty, looking back it was you who brought farm hedges into this thread! John mentioned local councils hedge cutting! If you took a look at the hedgelink page or spoke with any of our farmland conservation advisers then you will understand that many farmers across the UK are in agreement with us and are doing the management we and the other hedgelink partners are putting forward as best practice with good effect and as part of stewardship schemes (the hedgerow options for these are also on the hedgelink website).

I'm getting a bit of deja vous on this, if I remember rightly you have made similar comments before, I offered some pointers and asked a few questions on a previous thread. Any comments yet or are you still mulling it over? If you want to see some research on the comparitive costs, and environmental benefits, for different management options have a look at the study here. Even better why not get out and have a look at the hedges that are managed on rotation, they're great at this time of year and usually full of birds!

Lot's of gardens with hawthorn hedges...maybe down your way and in rural communities but having done a fair bit of work on urban conservation I can tell you now that hawthorn isn't as common a garden hedge these days as you make out. Yes llelandii's are hated by many but they are still sold in number from pretty much every garden centre along with various other types of evergreen hedges that offer year round privacy. In a way its beneficial that garden hedges of any kind are being used rather than resorting to hard landscaping features such as walls and fencing, at least they offer birds some cover, nesting sites and some invertebrate food (if you get really deep into a lleylandii you will find loads of spiders). It would be great if everyone did use native hawthorn hedges and manage them appropriately, back in the real world though this just isn't the case.

As for the RSPB calling for hawthorn to be left alone in field corners, you say bird protection groups don't want to know, have you ever talked to us about this? If you had you would already know that it is part of our advice, have a look at our scrub advisory sheet, pay particular attention to the bit that says 'Let scrub develop in unproductive field corners'. I'm very surprised at your comments about not having to manage them, if you don't manage scrub it basically changes to woodland and can encroach into the surrounding habitats, as well as losing the benefits that the scrub brings (low dense foliage ideal for nesting farmland birds). The advisory sheet covers the best way to manage this kind of scrub.

The RSPB recommends late winter cuts for berry bearing hedgerows in order to allow wildlife to consume what is a vital food resource for them. Rather than cut all sides of the hedge each year, cutting on a rotation scheme of some description to suit the hedge in question is a much prefferred option for wildlife as it provides a richer crop of fruit which helps them through the autumn and winter and provide better nesting habitat.

A little thoughtful planning went into this hedge at Longstrops Kesgrave when it was planted to divide playing fields from a farmers field, the hedge has to be managed as where the tractor is situated it is a bridleway and just to its left are football pitches

I guess with financial restraints being put in place I think we are fortunate to have such a hedgerow, this was taken on April 16th 2012, walking along the hedge this morning I noticed how many, Sparrows, Chaffinches, Robins, Tits and Blackbirds were using the hedge not to mention the nests that had been in use  

Some of the hedges on my home patch have just been cut this week,the invasion of wintering thrushes had already cleared about 90% of the berries so in this case the timing was spot on.One farmer on the same patch is big into rural crafts and lays some of his field hedges by hand,looks good but very time consuming and impractical in most cases.Because of the mixed farming practice in our area we do get lots of scrubby corners left in places which do hold birds all year round.