CHRW4: Manage hedgerows

This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier ( CSHT ). You must read the CSHT guidance before you apply.

Duration

5 years

How much you’ll be paid

£13 per 100 metres (m) for one side of an eligible hedgerow per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there are managed hedgerows with a range of different heights and widths.

The purpose of this is to provide:

habitat for wildlife

pollen, nectar and berries for mammals, birds and insects

Where you can do this action

An eligible hedgerow for this action must be:

a boundary line of shrubs, or both shrubs and trees

over 20m long

less than 10m wide

The hedgerow can be:

newly planted, laid or coppiced

woody growth on top of an earth or stone-faced bank, for example, Cornish or Devon hedges

There can be gaps in the hedgerow if they’re not more than:

20m long

10% of the total length of the hedgerow when you add all the gaps in it together

If the gaps add up to more than 10%, you can do the action on the total length of the hedgerow if you’ll plant up the gaps during this action’s 5-year duration. You can apply for capital grants for BN7:Hedgerow gapping up and BN11: Planting new hedges to help you do this.

You can do this action on either one side or both sides of an eligible hedgerow unless you’re managing a fully established hedgerow in a coppicing or laying rotation. In this case, you must enter both sides of the hedgerow.

You must have management control of one or both sides, depending on what you enter into this action.

You can enter both sides of a roadside hedgerow (or a hedgerow that borders a neighbour’s land) if you:

have a legal right or obligation to maintain the hedgerow

can meet this action’s requirements

Eligible land

All land use codes are eligible for this action.

Available area you can enter into this action

Not applicable as this is a linear action. You can choose what length of eligible hedgerows to enter into this action.

Rotational or static action

This action is static. This means you must keep it on the same area of land for the duration of your agreement.

What to do

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must:

manage hedges to allow them to reach a height and width agreed with your Natural England adviser

The advice you’re given from Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to:

locate vehicle or stock access routes at least 6m away from features (as agreed with your Natural England adviser)

make sure all woody cuttings have been removed from within 2m of the centre of the hedge after trimming

agree hedgerow cutting frequency with your Natural England adviser

leave hedgerows to grow uncut if agreed by your Natural England adviser

tag hedgerow trees agreed with your Natural England adviser

manage the herb layer within 2m of the centre of the hedgerow as agreed with you Natural England adviser

You must not:

remove any tree limbs including the lower limbs or mature ivy growth from hedgerow trees

remove any standing deadwood

supplementary feed within 2m of the centre of the hedge

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency ( RPA ) may ask for this evidence.

You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:

field operations at a land parcel level

associated invoices

photographs

Consents, permissions and licensing requirements

To apply for this action, you’ll need:

consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest ( SSSI )

Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments

You may need to:

agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser

get advice from your Forestry Commission woodland officer or Natural England adviser if you have other historic or archaeological features on your agreement land

get a wildlife licence from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat

All historic and archaeological features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record ( HEFER ).

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.

Capital grants to support this action

If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding .

You can also apply for capital items to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.

Advice to help you do this action

The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.

Consider the whole hedgerow

Consider the whole hedgerow when you decide how to manage it.

A hedgerow contains the following structural components:

shrub layer – what is typically thought of as a hedge

tree layer – emergent isolated trees or overlapping tree canopies

base layer – bare or vegetated ground below the canopy of the shrub and tree layer

ditch – wet or dry ditches next to the shrub layer, with bankside or aquatic vegetation or both

field margin – ground next to the hedge base, usually managed differently to the main cropping or grazing area

Wildlife that uses hedgerows is dependent on at least 2 of these structural components to shelter, breed, feed or disperse.

Manage at farm-scale

If you have a network of hedgerows on your agreement land, maintain their connection to allow wildlife to disperse.

Retain existing hedgerows and plant new ones to fill large gaps in the network. Aim to link up hedgerows with other habitats, such as woodland and ponds.

Create structural diversity to provide a range of hedge heights and widths by:

planting new hedgerows

rejuvenating existing hedgerows by laying or coppicing

varying the timing, frequency and intensity of trimming

Aim for 5% recently rejuvenated hedgerows, 65% of which to be 1m to 2m tall and 30% of which to be 2m to 5m tall.

Read the following advice published by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) to help you decide the best management approach to take depending on your hedgerow condition and structure:

Adams Hedgerow Management Scale

Hedge management cycle

When and how to cut a hedgerow

When, how much and how often you cut a hedgerow will affect the hedgerow structure and its value to wildlife.

Flailing a hedge each year can maintain a thick, dense hedgerow if managed carefully. However, you could damage a hedgerow by cutting back to the same point each year over a number of years and reduce its value as a wildlife habitat. For example, if the previous season’s growth is removed it will reduce flower and berry production.

To allow the hedge to develop and the shrub layer to flower, cut a hedge:

every 2 to 3 years

in rotation

in incremental steps by raising the cutting height by 10cm each cut watch the video ‘Improving hedgerow management’ for more advice on incremental cutting.

Winter cutting

Aim to trim hedgerows in late winter (typically during January and February) to allow birds to feed on autumn berries. If the ground is too wet for you to gain access to the hedgerow, trim in early autumn leaving at least 10cm of the previous year’s growth.

Cutting or reshaping

You would usually cut a hedge using a flail hedge cutter for regular trimming. You could use a circular saw to re-shape an overgrown hedgerow, or to lengthen your cutting rotation to every 10 years, for example. Remove the brash with a front loader.

Rejuvenate a hedge

You will eventually need to rejuvenate a mature hedge to restart healthy growth at its base. You can do this by laying or coppicing.

Use Hedgelink’s Hedge hub for access to information  on hedgerow management.

Eligible land

All land use codes are eligible for this action.