All in all, the hedge cutter is more friend than foe

COUNTRY FILE

WHILE many view the onset of hedgecutting season with distaste and question the value of the exercise altogether, others just can’t wait to get the flail out and smash everything to smithereens, leaving a forest of thorns lying roadside and ready to pierce the tyres of passing cars.

Really, what is the point of cutting and trimming in such an aggressive manner? We might remember the fact that we live in the middle, perhaps only at the beginning, of a biodiversity crisis, when the call is out to make more room for nature.

Now we’re all in favour of that. Time spent in nature is good for the human spirit. Proven to reduce anxiety, it inspires literature and art and is good for both physical and mental health. Being out and about can reduce cortisol and provide a needed boost to our immune system. It helps with proper sleep and enables us to function better, both at home and at work.

Unless we’re hopping up and down, filled with angst at the antics of the hedgecutting man. So let’s have a look at what he does and the service he provides.

First of all, we must acknowledge that hedgerows do need to be kept in check. Left to their own devices, they will not take long to encroach on the road. Within three years the first tendrils of bramble growing at the near side will be at the far side. Moss will grow in their shade and willow seeds will take root in the moss. The road will become impassable. Within a decade it will be disintegrating as Nature reclaims her space.

A little trimming here and there is absolutely necessary if we actually want to get out and about. A good, tight cut actually improves biodiversity. Sunlight is allowed to reach the ground, giving life to the herb layer where our wild flowers grow. These will feed our bumblebees, our sawflies, hoverflies and a great diversity of other lifeforms we know little about.

All of these are tiny cogs in a great machine. We need them, mostly in ways we do not comprehend. They are dependent on one another, and we are dependent on them. If we remove a mere few, the rest must struggle to survive.

Before the last half-century, the countryside was still wild and wildlife was widespread. Cows grazed over species-rich grassland, sheep were stocked at sustainable levels and nobody needed to give thought to their impact on the environment.

Now that little strip of wildflowers beneath the cut-back hedge is all the room left for many animals and plants. This is not the case everywhere, and we are fortunate that much of Mayo is still in the tailwind of what we like to call progress.

Leaving hedgerows uncut allows them to grow leggy. While this may look pretty it actually, reduces bird nesting habitat. Songbirds depend on dense growth if they are to nest securely and the tighter that hedgerow is cut, the thicker the following season’s growth is likely to be.

Unclipped hedges also tend to reduce the number of flowers on many shrubs, which obviously cuts back on fruit production. There are some exceptions, such as hawthorn and mountain ash, which do better when left to grow.

All in all, the hedge cutter is more friend than foe. He needs your patience while working roadside. He knows you are in a rush. Aren’t we all, almost always?

Yet he too has his timeline, and as much as he’d like to pull out of your way immediately there might be that tricky corner he has to get finished first.

So take advantage of that small hold-up. Soak up that quiet moment. You’ll be better fit for the rest of the day, and we’ll all be better off.