05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow

Summary

Step into the living history of England’s hedgerows this September—where nature and tradition intertwine. Once planted to mark boundaries, enclose farmland, and even shape the patterns of our countryside, many hedges are centuries old, home to ancient trees, mossy banks, and hidden ditches. At this time of year, they’re alive with colour: crimson crab apples, ripening brambles, late blossoms, and leaves shifting to autumn hues. Spiders spin silver webs, insects prepare for winter, and birds and mammals bustle in the undergrowth. Some hedges even hold clues to their true age—field maples, spindles, and elm remnants whispering centuries of secrets. Whether for wildlife, history, or beauty, a September walk along a hedgerow is full of discoveries.

Return on September 5th to uncover the secrets of the hedgerow!

Article

Hedgerows

In winter, hedgerows are quiet places showing little signs of activity except perhaps for any animal tracks entering or leaving them. Abandoned nests may be noticed or spiders’ cobwebs after a hoar frost and occasionally redwings visit them searching for berries. The first indication of any re-awakening in spring is usually the resilient leaves of cow parsley pushing through followed by patches of coltsfoot or celandine. Early spring sees humble bees investigating old mouse holes with a view to rearing a family in them. Large white patches of blackthorn flowers then make a bold appearance and if elm is present in the hedge there may even be clusters of bright green seeds that catch the eye. Nesting starts in earnest in April followed by the greatest display of the year, may blossom. Hedges may now also be dotted with pink flowering crab apples and patches of red campion.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

From April onwards a succession of white umbellifers continue until late summer, each one attracting different insects to their umbels. The summer sees a lot more insect activity as climbers such as bindweed, cleavers, honeysuckle, bryony, bittersweet and clematis all scramble through the hedge filling every available space.

September is one of the better months to walk along old hedgerows for a variety of reasons. Many leaves are now starting to colour and fall. Many plants are either still in flower or have set seed or formed fruits. Any crab apples are now covered in crimson fruits.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

Many insects are laying eggs to ensure they survive the winter and spiders are suddenly far more noticeable. The universally popular fruits of bramble are attracting birds, mice and insects as well as Londoners. Grasshoppers may well still be chirruping and crickets making their bold lime-green appearances.

It is thought the earliest hedges were made from just readily available plants such as blackthorn, holly and hawthorn bushes. They were probably laid to enclose where food was being grown to protect it from grazing stock. Later hedges were grown to mark the boundaries of fields or parishes. Where woods were cleared to create farmland assart hedges were often left which were made up of trees and shrubs from the original wood. During the reign of Richard 1st these hedges were not allowed to exceed 1.3 metres as this was the height a deer could clear and nothing was allowed to interfere with hunting.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

The remains of any hedges we see crossing open fields probably once enclosed a long gone wood. They are called ghost hedges. The two great periods of hedge building were from the mid fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century and from the mid eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century. It was the Enclosure Acts of the second period which are largely responsible for any pattern of fields we may see today. Hedgerows in central London are now largely degraded or destroyed but there are 30 kilometres of rural hedgerows still left in the borough of Brent.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

Uppermost among these are those in Fryent country park where the field patterns have remained largely intact since the sixteenth century. Some of these hedges are believed to be seven hundred years old, complete with their original ditches and lynchets. Totteridge fields in Barnet is also worth visiting. This is another small area left of a traditional English pastoral landscape with its tall hedges including a good number of crab apples as well as dogwood and wild service trees.

A well used way to estimate the age of a hedge is to walk several thirty yard sections, counting the number of different trees and shrubs present in each section. The average number is believed by many to be the number of centuries the hedge has existed e.g. ten different species would indicate a thousand year old hedge. There are unfortunately a number of factors that can interfere with this simple rule especially any later interference or management by man.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

Others believe clematis and bramble should be included in the count as if they were shrubs or trees. Many believe the presence of field maple indicates a hedge is definitely over four hundred years old and the presence of spindle over six hundred years. Either way, these methods still give a rough indication of age. Old hedges also have a distinct look. They usually include a lot of different plants, especially native trees and shrubs including some rarities. More often than not they are dense, especially at their bases and unexpectedly wide. At this time of year they are also usually very much interconnected with few gaps or breaks and often with a ditch or a bank nearby.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

Typically they contain oak, elder, blackthorn, roses, brambles and hawthorn. Ash, lime, willow and hazel tend to be found less often. The presence of elms often tells us a little more. Individual elms can live up to five hundred years. However, the English elm Ulmus procera suckers easily and so the presence of an individual tree might remain in a hedge, via its suckers, for many more centuries. This leads to discreet isolated clones, all with slightly different characteristics. The wych elm Ulmus glabra does not sucker but commonly sets seed. Even so most of those found in London hedges have been planted there and few specimens are likely to be found which are growing there naturally. Dutch elm disease then came and virtually wiped them all out. The huge standard trees that used to tower over old boundary hedges are especially missed.

Hedges also attract a wide range of mammals e.g. mice, voles, shrews, stoats, weasels, rabbits, hares, hedgehogs, badgers and foxes. Many people only ever see a stoat or weasel as it dives out of a hedge and runs across a road. A wide variety of birds also use hedges when nesting, especially garden birds and finches. In outer areas this list may include less common birds such as linnets, whitethroats, yellowhammers, pheasants and even partridges.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

In late September it is well worth examining any old moss-covered banks associated with these ancient hedges. These are greatly prized by field mycologists where they often find rare fungi and favourite edible species such as Pied de mouton and Chanterelles.

One plant that always surprises when found on a hedgebank is Orpine Sedum telephium. It is similar to its popular garden relative the Ice plant S. spectabile, widely planted to attract butterflies.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

We don’t expect succulents to grow in hedges so there has always been questions as to whether or not it is native. Gerard in the sixteenth century tells us it “grew plentifully in the wild”. Unfortunately, it has the look of a garden outcast and many of the plants we see may well be garden forms rather than the true species. Being so fleshy it has a great capacity to remain fresh long after it has been picked and even when deprived of water. For this reason herbarium specimens used to be boiled before they were mounted to stop them continuing to grow inside the herbarium. Traditionally it was picked today, Michaelmas day, as there was a popular belief that if it remained green until Christmas the occupants of the house would be protected from becoming deranged.

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image

05-Sept Secrets of the Hedgerow Section Image