Hedgerows have a diverse and important role within the British landscape.

They provide food and shelter year round for various species, including many endangered ones, and are an essential part of our cultural heritage. Where habitat loss and fragmentation has caused many species to decline, hedgerows act as wildlife corridors, enabling a commute from one habitat to another. Hedgerows’ nutritional provisions are well known; many species benefit from the wide variety of hedgerow shrubs. Birds, hedgehogs, bats, stoats, and invertebrates such as butterflies all seek shelter in and rely on the offerings of hedgerows, to name but a few.

Some of England’s hedgerows are thousands of years old, however, many have been lost since the mid 20th century, largely due to industrialisation and changes in land management techniques.

Dorset, however, is still a stronghold for hedges, and many of our hedgerows are of ancient heritage. Here, hedgerow laying has a long history and hedges are a visually outstanding traditional feature of our landscape. They therefore are not only vital to the county’s varied wildlife but of historical interest in their own right as well, and preserving them is a high priority. In the wintertime, hedgerows provide warmth and shelter to our hibernating mammals; hedgehogs and dormice. Both species are vulnerable; the numbers of hedgehogs have been on a decline due to high number of road accidents and the dormouse is one England’s rarest small mammals.

Diversity in plants and the continuity of growth are perhaps the most important features in a hedgerow. Native shrubs, such as hazel, hawthorn and blackthorn, provide the widest variety of food for wildlife. Should you have a garden hedge, the best time to trim it is between September and February, and most importantly they are to be left alone during nesting season from March to August.

Dorset Wildlife Trust is committed to protecting wildlife in Dorset.

If you’d like to help us continue our work, we are currently offering half price membership until the end of January. Visit www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk to join.

BY NIINA SILVENNOINEN for the DORSET WILDLIFE TRUST