Dead hedge
{{Short description|Artificial barrier constructed from foliage}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
A dead hedge is a barrier constructed from cut branches, saplings, and foliage. The material can be gathered from activities such as pruning or clearing, and in traditional forms of woodland management,{{cite web |title=Dead wood and compost heap habitats |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/garden-health/wildlife/dead-wood-compost-heap-habitats |website=www.rhs.org.uk |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223155349if_/https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/garden-health/wildlife/dead-wood-compost-heap-habitats |archive-date=23 February 2021 |language=en-gb}} such as coppicing. Its ecological succession can be a beetle bank or hedge.
==Restoration ecology and biological pest control==
In coppicing, dead hedges are useful for keeping compartments of a coppice tidy, and keeping the public from certain areas. At the same time, they can provide excellent habitats and corridors for wildlife habitat conservation and restoration ecology. They offer habitats for insects such as beetles, and shelter and feeding opportunities for small mammals and birds.{{cite web |url=http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/chapter/65 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20031230082921/http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/content/chapter/65 |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 December 2003 |title=Hedging |work=BTCV handbook |author=BTCV |accessdate=20 January 2008}} Dead hedges can be used to create habitats for natural 'biological control agents' to provide biological pest control.{{Cn|date=January 2021}} They have roles in the tending of natural landscapes, wildlife gardening, and organic gardening.
File:Dead hedge in Meephill Copice April 2019 3.jpg (at Meephill Coppice, Worcestershire, England).]]
Agriculture
Dead hedges can provide enclosures for livestock.{{cite web|url=http://www.northwichcommunitywoodlands.org.uk/events-hedgelaying.shtml |accessdate=20 January 2008 |work=Northwich Community Woodlands |title=Hedge-laying – alive and well in the Northwich Community Woodlands |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110021455/http://www.northwichcommunitywoodlands.org.uk/events-hedgelaying.shtml |archivedate=10 November 2007 }} They can also play a role in biological pest control (for example, in organic farming and sustainable agriculture).{{Cn|date=January 2021}}
Dead hedges provide a carbon-efficient way of recycling biomass, without the need for transport or burning.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}
Gallery
File:Syke Barrien 0032.JPG |A dead hedge on farmland (at Barrien near Syke, Germany).
File:Klövensteen Waldweg mit Benjeshecke 01.jpg |A dead hedge can be seen bordering this forest path in Klövensteen, near Hamburg, Germany.
File:Dead hedge Royal Fort Gardens, Bristol.jpg |This dead hedge in Royal Fort Gardens, Bristol (England) is being used as a boundary to a protected wildlife habitat.
File:Kingfisher Pool, Myton Fields - geograph.org.uk - 1196614.jpg |The dead hedge alongside this cycleway is protecting a wildlife pond among the 'Kingfisher Pools' at St Nicholas' Park, Warwick, England.
File:Benjeshecke_(Illingen)_2020-05-21_(01).jpg |A dead hedge in a private wildlife garden (in Illingen, Saarland, Germany).
File:Benjeshecke.jpg |This dead hedge is made from small conifer branches placed around freshly planted saplings (in Hundorf near Schwerin, Germany).
See also
- Beetle bank
- Biodiversity
- Coarse woody debris
- Hedge laying
- Hibernaculum (zoology)
- Insect hotel
- Windrow (dead hedges may be thought of as "tidy wind-rows"){{cite book |vauthors=Oaks R |title=Coppicing and coppice crafts: a comprehensive guide |date=2012 |publisher=Crowood |isbn=978-1-84797-467-9 |pages=119 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iwg9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT119 |language=en}}
References
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External links
{{Commons category inline|Dead hedges}}
Category:Agricultural terminology
Category:Habitat management equipment and methods
Category:Biological pest control
Category:Environmental conservation
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