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Creating a Wild Backyard - Hedgerows

What are Hedgerows?
Hedgerows are living fences of trees, shrubs, and other plants. A hedgerow can consist of a simple row of trees and shrubs or a pyramid of plant heights, from low grasses and flowers to tall trees.

Why are Hedgerows Important?
Hedgerows are tremendously beneficial to wildlife. In a hedgerow, songbirds, pheasants, quail, rabbits, and other wildlife can find food, shelter, and secluded passageways for travel from one area to another. With various levels of vegetation, from small flowering plants to shrubs to trees, an "edge" effect is created, providing habitat for more types of animals than one level of vegetation alone. Hedgerows can also serve as fences and they can establish contour guidelines for farming. Planting a hedgerow on the sides of your house that face the prevailing winds, can help you save energy. The same idea can be used to help save your fields from the wind erosion or heavy snow cover.

How to Plant a Hedgerow
A hedgerow works best for wildlife when it is wider than 20 feet. Planning a combination of evergreen plants, like holly and juniper, and shrubs and trees that lose their leaves in the fall, like dogwood, will give wildlife shelter all year long. If you plant shrubs that produce berries at different times of the year, wildlife will find food in your hedgerow all the time. A pyramid type of hedgerow is best for wildlife, with tall trees in the middle and bushy shrubs on either side followed by dense, low-growing plants.

Illustration of Hedgerow Cut-Away View

Hedgerow Planting Tips

1. Plow or disc the area in which you have planned to plant your hedgerow. Call your local agricultural extension agent about the possible application of herbicides to reduce heavy weed growth while your hedgerow is being established.
    

2. It is best to plant your hedgerow in early spring, right after the last winter frost, usually from late March to mid-April.
    

3. Plant trees and shrubs about six to eight feet apart. Plant each row about eight to ten feet apart.
    

4. Plant one or two rows of tall trees flanked by a row or two of shrubs. A 20-foot wide hedgerow will have two rows of shrubs flanking a row of trees. This amounts to three rows with each row ten feet apart.
    

5. If your hedgerow is for wildlife food and cover, leave breaks in the planted rows so that natural vegetation can grow and become part of the hedge.
    

6. Make sure the planting holes are deep and wide enough to accept and cover the roots of each plant.
    

7. Mulch placed around each tree and shrub after planting will discourage weeds. Commercial mulch, straw, or hay piled about three inches thick and one to two feet around each plant will help the plants survive.

How to Maintain Your Hedgerow
It is important to maintain the levels of vegetation you have created in your hedgerow. When your smaller shrubs grow into large trees, the habitat "edge" effect, mentioned above, will be lost. You may also wish to discourage certain plants from growing in your hedgerow. The following are suggestions for maintaining a hedgerow for wildlife.

1. Every three to five years, prune any fruit trees you may have. Cut off the tops of your junipers and pines when they reach 20 feet in height. These measures will cause the plants to produce less woody material and more leaves and fruits.
    

2. To be sure your hedgerow will have a variety of plant growth stages, selectively cut the trees in the hedge every five years.
    

3. Cut back the vegetation between the shrub rows every two or three years. This will reduce the growth of woody shrubs and trees and keep the green grasses, vines, and flowers growing in between the rows.

For Additional Information, Contact:
 
 Wild Acres Program
 Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service
 Attn:  Marilyn Mause
 Gwynnbrook WMA
 3740 Gwynnbrook Ave
 Owings Mills MD 21117
 410-356-0941
 E-Mail: customerservice@dnr.state.md.us

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