by Imogen French

Created on: July 23, 2011   Last Updated: July 25, 2011

The hedgerow is a distinctive feature of the British countryside, used for bordering fields and narrow country lanes, and giving the landscape its beautiful random patchwork appearance. These dense hedgerows may have been growing for hundreds of years and give rise to a unique ecosystem, that includes the hedging plants themselves as well as a rich understorey of flowering plants and grasses, and all the insects, birds and small mammals that they support.

Hedgerows can be composed of many types of shrubs and small trees - most commonly, hazel, blackthorn, hawthorn, field maple, holly, willow, and many more besides. The age of hedgerows can be ascertained from the number of species along a certain length - the more species there are, the older the hedgerow. These shrubs themselves often have attractive flowers, such as hazel catkins in the early spring, or the pretty white blossom of hawthorn in May, but the best display comes from the plants that grow on the grassy banks beneath the bushes. Below are some of the commonest flowers that can be found, described by their common names with latin names in brackets for reference.

The first wild flowers of the year are Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis), that pop up from the ground from late January into March, and are a sign that spring is on its way. They have delicate little bell-shaped white flowers that grow from bulbs in the bank under the hedgerow. Primroses (Primula vulgaris) are another early sign of spring in the hedgerow, and have pretty pale yellow, five-petalled flowers, that can be seen flowering from March to May.

Springtime is the best time to see a British hedgerow, when a great array of flowers start to bloom and provide a colourful display along with a fresh supply of nectar and pollen to feed the local insect population. Native English bluebells (Endymion non-scriptus), although primarily woodland flowers, also make their way into many a hedgerow and provide a beautiful splash of blue, intermingled with the deep pinks of red campion (Silene dioica).  Wild garlic can often be smelt before it is seen, but this too has a very pretty white flower and glossy green leaves.

Cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) is one of the most recognisable of hedgerow plants, towering above all the others with its large umbeliferous white sprays of flowers from May to June. Wild foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) are another tall perennial, with their deep pink spikes of tubular flowers, that can be seen from June to September, and are a favourite of bumblebees.

Climbing plants that grow up through the hedgerow include wild honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), with its sweet scented and very pretty yellow flowers; wild clematis (Clematis vitalba), which is recognisable by its hairy seed heads that give it the common-name of "old man's beard", and the dog-rose (Rosa canina), a classic pink single-petalled climbing rose.

There are many, many other species to be found in hedgerows, and the best thing to do on a bright spring day is to take a wild flower book with you on a walk along a traditional British hedgerow to discover what is there.

Reference:

Fitter, R., Fitter, A. and Blamey, M. (1980) The Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins, London.

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