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Plant and manage hedgerows
The guidance on this page is for SFI pilot participants only. Please visit GOV.UK for the official Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme guidance.
Find out how land managers can establish and manage hedgerows and how they can benefit the environment.
If you’re completing this action as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot, how you do it is up to you.
The advice on this page can help you get better environmental and business benefits, but you do not have to follow it to get paid.
About hedgerows
A hedgerow is a planted line of shrubs that:
- is over 20 metres long
- is less than 5 metres wide
- contains at least 80% native shrubs
Your National Character Area Profile can tell you more about hedgerows found in your local landscape.
Benefits of establishing and managing hedgerows
Your business can benefit from hedgerows as they can:
- reduce soil erosion and flooding, by slowing water flow so it soaks into the ground more easily
- provide forage and shelter from the wind for your livestock, boosting their health and yield
- supply wood for timber and fuel
- screen unsightly buildings and developments
For wildlife, they can:
- provide food, shelter and breeding sites for a wide range of wildlife including dormice, birds and bats
- provide pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators
- link habitats and allow wildlife to move across the landscape, especially if they contain mature trees
There are also wider environmental benefits. Hedgerows can:
- improve water quality, by trapping sediment, nutrients and pollutants before they reach watercourses
- improve air quality, by removing particles and pollutants from the air
- absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their wood
- contribute to the character and appearance of landscapes
Find out more about the importance of hedgerows from Hedgelink.
Where to establish and manage hedgerows
You’ll maximise the benefits of hedgerows if you focus on those that:
- connect other hedges or habitats, like woodlands and traditional orchards
- are made of a range of elements like bushes, trees, bases and banks rich in flowers
- are next to ditches or margins that buffer the hedge
- are of particular landscape interest, like parish boundaries originally marked by hedges
- contain surviving fragments of ancient woodland, as they can include rare plants
Plant new hedges along historic boundaries where possible. Hedges were often placed for good reasons, like preventing soil erosion. They also help reinforce the character of the local landscape.
You can look at old maps to see where there used to be historic boundaries on your land. Lines of mature trees within fields may also show the route of old hedgerows.
Do not plant new hedges on historic features, like earthworks or parish boundaries marked by stone markers. When placing hedges try not to split groups of historic features, like barrows.
Hedgerows can be an important habitat for bats. You can manage your hedgerows to increase habitat connectivity between their roosts and foraging areas.
How to establish a new hedgerow
When to plant a hedgerow
Plant hedges between late autumn and late winter. This is when the trees and shrubs are dormant and can be supplied bare-root.
On drier sites, plant at the start of winter to give the roots more time to establish. Plant at the end of winter on wetter sites, to stop roots rotting in wet ground.
You can plant hedges all year round using container plants. These are more expensive, and if planted in the summer will need more watering.
How to plant a hedgerow
You should:
- plant native tree and shrub species that are found in hedgerows in the local area
- plant a mix of different species to support a wide variety of wildlife
- immediately protect young hedge plants from browsing and grazing animals, using an appropriate tree guard or fencing
- identify some plants that you will not manage, allowing them to grow into mature hedgerow trees
Read answers to common questions about hedgerow planting.
You can establish trees in field boundaries.Trees are important features in hedgerows. They increase the amount of food, cover and nesting sites available for wildlife.
How to manage an existing hedgerow
New and existing hedgerows need active management to maintain a good structure over time, rather than just being left to grow.
Aim for a mix of hedges of different heights and widths across the holding.
Before starting any work, check with your local authority if any trees are:
- subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO)
- in a conservation area
If you’re in a national park, talk to your local national park authority before doing any hedge restoration.
You may need a Forestry Commission felling licence if you are either:
- planning to remove trees
- managing overgrown hedges (when felling more than 5 cubic metres of timber in a calendar quarter)
Some important hedges are protected by law.
When to manage a hedgerow
Ideally, manage the hedgerow when the trees and shrubs are dormant. You can start work in the autumn, once most deciduous species have started to shed leaves. You should stop before hedges start growing in the spring.
Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law. Only carry out work on existing hedges outside the bird breeding season. The bird breeding season is usually from 1 March to 31 August.
Hedge cutting
You’ll manage most hedges by regular mechanical cutting. You must cut hedges carefully to avoid damage to both young and mature trees.
The way you cut hedges determines how much wildlife and landscape benefit they will have. Hedges that are cut too low will not be used by birds and animals that like to feed or nest further away from the ground.
Most hedgerow shrubs only produce berries on growth that is at least 2 years old. Plants trimmed back to the same point every year do not produce many berries.
Hedgerows cut to the same height each time have poor structure. They provide fewer nesting sites for birds and easier access for their predators. Over time, these hedges form a bottomless ‘mushroom’ shape and slowly die out.
To improve the structure of your hedges and increase the amount of berries available for wildlife:
- cut in increments, by increasing the height and width of each cut by at least 10cm
- cut every other year, or better still one year in 3
- leave any hedge trimming until late winter, to allow birds to feed on berries over the winter
- do not cut all your hedgerows in the same year
Find out more about hedge cutting from Natural England.
Hedge coppicing
Coppicing can help restore hedgerows, by stimulating new growth from the base. It is useful if the hedge is too large and overgrown to lay or trim.
Cut material can be used as dead hedging (piles of branches and twigs that form a barrier), to protect the new growth and provide temporary wildlife cover.
Manage regrowth by cutting to form a bushy hedge, or lay and then cut afterwards. Some hedges were traditionally managed by regular coppicing only, such as hazel.
Hedge laying
Since the 1950s, when wire fences started to be used instead of hedges as livestock boundaries, most hedges have been cut. The main reasons for laying today are for landscape and cultural heritage benefits.
Laying helps restore hedges in a similar way to coppicing. It also protects the new growth from browsing. The layed material also provides wildlife habitat and shelter until the new growth is established.
You should try to replicate characteristic regional hedge styles.
Filling gaps in hedgerows
You can restore a hedge by filling gaps with new trees and shrubs. Coppicing or laying the existing hedge next to the new plants will help them to establish, by reducing shade and competition from the existing hedge.
Read the Hedgelink hedgerow management guide for more information on how to manage hedgerows.
What well-managed hedgerows should look like
You’ll see:
- a wide range of shrub species that are native to your local area
- native trees along the length
- a bank or grassy strip buffering the hedge
- tall and wide hedgerows, with gaps forming less than 10% of the length
- thick and bushy hedges from the ground upwards
- lots of blossom and berries
You can find out more about ideal hedgerow structure from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species.
