National Hedgerow Week, which commences on Monday, May 6, is a week to “celebrate all the benefits” a hedgerow can provide for you and your farm.
Senior biodiversity technologist at College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), Nicola Warden stated that thick hedges create a biosecurity barrier between livestock and neighbouring fields, which helps limit the spread of disease.
Warden added that when hedges are growing, they absorb carbon and hedges alongside watercourses help to protect water quality, by acting as a “buffer” to prevent excess nutrients entering the watercourse.
Hedgrerows also provide feeding, nesting, resting and breeding sites for a range of invertebrates, mammals and birds, such as, a songbird or an Irish Hare, according to Warden.
Furthermore, Warden said that hedgerow trees provide a perch for birds and the interior cavities of older trees can provide a roosting site for bats.
She added: “Hedges that are allowed to grow and flower will provide a much-needed pollen resource in a landscape which may not have many other flowering plants available.
“When establishing new hedgerows, it is important to include a range of different native and local Irish provenance hedgerow and tree species.”
Warden explained that these include blackthorn or willow that will flower early in the year when pollinators are coming out of hibernation.
Hawthorn, oak, holly or crab apple will flower throughout the spring into summer, according to the senior biodiversity technologist.
Guelder rose or ivy “extend the food source” into late autumn, as these species will provide berries or fruit that are “valuable” for many wildlife species in the winter period, Warden said.
At CAFRE Greenmount, Level 2 Agriculture and Level 3 Advanced Technical Extended Diploma students established 200-300m of native local provenance hedgerow.
This work was completed as part of the students’ Farm Habitat Management module which involved creating a new habitat on the college farm.
