Healthy Hedges – Useful Information

Cornish hedgerow

Before she left her post in the AONB, we were lucky to have a presentation from Alice Lewthwaite about the importance of hedges. By making some simple changes to how we all manage our hedges we have the potential to provide:

• better habitats
• carbon sinks (Did you know: a carbon sink is anything that has the potential to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases)
• stock shade
• improvements in water quality (Did you know: a well placed hedge acts as a barrier slowing the flow of water over land, reducing the force of overland flow. It filters sediment and mops up nutrients as it intercepts the flow)
• better air filters – not just for pollution but for noise too
• wildlife corridors

To find out more here are some useful links:

http://www.cornishhedges.co.uk/index.htm

https://devonhedges.org/

Healthy Hedges Trimming Guide