Urban hedgerows: The green highways brightening our towns and cities
We need to value them...
Often when nature conservationists talk about hedgerows, an aspirational image is conjured of bushy field boundaries, interspersed with mature hedgerow trees, criss-crossing our countryside, providing a rich wildlife home for adorable dormice and hunting barn owls.
Whilst this vision can be an ideal for our rural landscapes, it has the potential to exclude urban hedgerows from the conversation. They are all too often viewed as less important - there is no utopian vision for the urban hedge. I personally feel this is risky. If we are not careful urban hedges will be vulnerable to exclusion from hedgerow management conservation.
An urban hedgerow may not have the same potential to support the volume of biological diversity of a rural hedge, but that doesn’t make it less important. In my view, urban hedgerows are not only just as important as their rural cousins, but should be front and centre of hedgerow conservation efforts.
To illustrate my point, I would like to enlist a helper, the humble house sparrow. A bird that has declined by more than 60% in urban areas and is a real character of our urban streets. Whilst house sparrow decline is thought to be due to a variety of factors, studies have shown that they prefer houses with gardens abundant in areas of seed-rich habitat, with low levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution – all things a hedge can provide!
Whilst we would all agree our urban wildlife is important to conserve in its own right, I have to share just how much joy it brings me walking down the street past that hedge full of cheerful chirping. The sound and sight of wildlife is a powerful happiness booster and can have a big impact on our mental health.
A hedge can provide us with that link to nature in areas where open space and trees aren’t always available, such as smaller gardens or cluttered streetscapes. It’s not just the nature connection that leads to an increased sense of wellbeing, hedges are multi-functional and can make us happy in so many ways!
The New Economics Foundation ‘Five ways to wellbeing’ research identified five everyday ways to improve our wellbeing
take notice
be active
keep learning
connect
give
Take notice
Next time you walk along the street, listen out for those house sparrows cheeping, spot the blossom coming into bloom and take notice of how the beech leaves cling to the hedge throughout the winter. Taking notice of those little details in the hedge, and spotting the seasonal changes, will give us an opportunity to mindfully be in the here and now.
Be active
We are far more likely to be enticed to walk or cycle down a green hedge or tree lined street. If our walk to school, or commute to work, is full of green infrastructure, like hedges, then there is far greater incentive to walk, with all the positive impacts on our physical and mental health it brings.
Whilst on the topic of health, hedges can be a fantastic barrier to air pollution. They act as a buffer between pollution sources such as traffic, deflecting contaminated air upwards and away from breathing level. Yet another reason why a walk along a hedge lined street is better than one without.
Keep learning
Hedges are excellent for curious minds! There are so many different species to get to know by name, and in an urban environment you get the added fun of unique horticultural varieties to identify.
Hedges placed along school boundaries make an excellent learning resource to showcase biodiversity in often crowded spots unsuitable for trees. An added benefit of a hedge is they provide a screen, security feature and pollution block all in one!
Connect
As previously mentioned, our hedges provide us with an opportunity to connect with nature during our daily commutes, or during a simple walk to the shops. But have you ever been involved in a community hedge planting project? These activities give us a chance to connect with each other, working together for a shared vision of greener and healthier towns and cities.
Whilst I am talking about connection and urban hedgerows, I must comment on the importance of hedges connecting nature areas, creating a vital network and green lifeline between areas of open space. A hedge is a wildlife motorway!
Give
By planting a hedge in your front garden, you can give all the above benefits of a hedge to others, so that not only do you benefit from the joy of hedges, but you can share them with your community. If you can plant a hedge, you can make a difference to the lives of others.
So next time you hear the house sparrow chirping away in the hedge on the way to work, I hope you are reminded of just how important our hedges are for our towns and cities. The opportunity to plant more hedges is in everyone’s hands, from garden owners, to park users, we can all campaign for more hedges, fill in the gaps of existing ones and look after the ones we have.
Annie Heslop is The Tree Council’s Life on the Hedge Project Manager. Find out more about the Life on the Hedge programme here
Further information
Spatial distribution and habitat preferences of the House Sparrow, Passer domesticus in urbanised landscapes. Lorna M. Shaw, Dan Chamberlain , Greg Conway & Mike Toms, June 2011
MORE Will Fitzpatrick: Our landscapes could be transformed by approaching gap in hedgerow tree succession
 | A guest post by
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Hi. I've been lucky enough to have a hedge on a stout bank. I've been laying it, adding seedlings to it and letting standards grow. It's not very long but I keep a 3 to 4 year rotation. Yes, it's still flailed vertically by the farmer on the other side but with quite a light touch.
I'm getting on but hope to keep control as long as I am able. To me it is simply beautiful. Keeps me all round fit. And it must have something to do with the grass snake, the slow worm, frogs and of course my friends the birds.
All the best to you all
Jx