The Hedgerow Project: A Different Approach to Enhancing the Intervale’s Landscape
Written by Jesse Barnett and Shifra Waskow
Jesse and Shifra interned at the Intervale Center through the University of Vermont’s Environmental Stewardship Community of Practice class and worked throughout the Spring 2024 semester with Duncan Murdoch, the Intervale's Natural Areas Stewardship Coordinator.
The Intervale’s Hedgerow Project: The Hedgerow project, led by the Intervale Center’s Natural Areas Stewardship Coordinator, Duncan Murdoch, was designed with the intention to identify and enhance underutilized areas within and along the perimeter of the Intervale’s landscape. Its objective to identify and enhance the Intervale’s community agricultural landscape relies on regenerative and sustainable methods with an emphasis on integrating local farmer perspectives. Local perspectives contextualize our findings, allowing for the production of meaningful landscape enhancement and recommendations for all involved. For our purposes, we defined hedgerows as an established row of vegetation composed of trees and shrubs, acting as a barrier between fields. This definition includes areas of intentional and unintentional growth that divide and cut otherwise managed landscapes.
To assess the Intervale landscape’s hedgerows and their gaps, we “ground-truthed” or physically surveyed the land to identify and map gaps in hedgerows within and along the Intervale's land. As gaps were identified while “ground-truthing,” they were plotted using Field Maps, a GIS app with an interactive satellite map of the Intervale's landscape already established. The mapped points are shown in Figure 1. The gaps were plotted with points to denote their location with field notes included, describing the approximate gap size in feet, and canopy and ground cover. This information serves as important data, informing on where action like restorative plantings for example is necessary and practical.
Hedgerow Research: History, Impacts, and Links to Vermont
To frame the discussion of hedgerows and their use, in-depth research was conducted into the history of hedgerows, their benefits and disadvantages on the landscape, and their importance specific to Vermont.
Hedgerows were once a dominant feature and cultural symbol of agricultural landscapes in Europe and the United States, serving mainly as agricultural barriers and extra wood supply [1], [2], [3], [4]. However, with agriculture's decline and technology and industrialization’s increase, the role of hedgerows has been largely displaced and many have disappeared from the landscape [2], [3], [5]. Only relatively recently have there been movements to revitalize hedgerows in rural landscapes as agriculture has diversified [2], [3].
Specific to Vermont, hedgerows also hold cultural value as an important symbol of pastoralism evoking imagery of an aesthetic, rural landscape and lifestyle, central to Vermont's identity. This identity has been actively maintained by Vermont evidenced socioculturally through Vermont’s rural landscape and cultural perspectives, reinforced politically via Act 250.
Beyond their historical and cultural value, hedgerows currently hold numerous benefits both for farmers and the landscape's ecological health.
Figure 1: Screenshot of the ‘Field Maps’ Intervale map depicting hedgerow gaps plotted on the landscape. Screenshot courtesy of Jesse Barnett.
Hedgerow Benefits Include:
Wind block [2], [4] Habitat for beneficial insects [2], [4], [6], [7]
Privacy screening
Flood debris capture
Bird and wildlife habitat [2], [3], [4], [8], [9]
Property line marker [2], [3], [4]
Fruit/berries for consumption [3], [4]
Shade for farmers
Limit erosion (wind, rain, water) [5], [10], [11]
Sequester carbon in soil [5], [10], [11]
Disease/insect barrier [8]
Craft/ornamentals supply
Enhanced nutrient runoff uptake [5], [10], [11]
While a few of these benefits serve only farmer’s needs directly, most of them benefit farmers and their agricultural efforts as well as landscape by improving it ecologically. Conversely, hedgerows also can negatively impact the landscape, especially for local farmers as they can oppose farmers' efforts and harm their production.
Hedgerow Disadvantages Include:
Shade crops
Trees fall on fields
Uses valuable agricultural soil
Potentially attracts pests [8]
Harbor wildlife that lower food production [9], [10]
Leaf litter falls on field
Provide habitat for unwanted plant species to enter field [1], [11]
The disadvantages are mostly specific to the impacts hedgerows can have on farmers, however it is important to note the potential for negative ecological impacts if enhancement methods ignore local ecology and plant invasive species for example.
Collaborating with Local Farmers
Along with the research, seven local farmers in stakeholder positions on the Intervale’s landscape were surveyed to incorporate their perspectives into the project to identify appropriate enhancement areas and methods. Such farms included Hallow Herbs Farm, Pitchfork Farm, and June Farm for instance. These surveys helped to better stakeholder needs and gather data on their perspectives on hedgerows, hedgerow impacts, and where action is needed on the landscape. This survey gauged local stakeholders' understandings and opinions of hedgerows generally and specific to the Intervale’s landscape, serving to frame future actions and plans for enhancement. Common farmer responses center on creating more biodiversity in hedgerows, decreasing height to prevent shading crops, and removing unwanted species like cottonwood and box elder trees. Farmer responses also highlight common themes of reducing animal pressures on agriculture and the desire to create "edible borders" for both animals and people. Understanding the mindsets of those impacted is critical to our analysis, actions, and enhancement recommendations for the Intervale’s Hedgerow Project.
Taking Action: Fascines and Live Stakes
Implementing our research and mapping of hedgerow gaps, specific areas which were appropriate for immediate enhancement had live stakes, live fascines, or a combination of both, planted as regenerative plantings. Fascines are a bundle material (in this case branches), shallowly entrenched in the ground for the purpose of solidifying it. Often stakes are used along with fascines as a method of securing bundles. [12]
Figure 2: Photo taken during fascine and stake making process. Multiple fascines are stacked on the left and several stakes are bundled on the right for storage. Photo courtesy of Jesse Barnett.
For our purposes we used live fascines and stakes meaning they were made of still viable shrub material. Both the fascines and stakes, as shown in Figure 2, were made of shrub willow pruned from another section of the Intervale and stored in coolers in bundles to prolong their viability until planted. We created approximately 100 ft of live fascines and planted about 220 ft of live fascines. We also planted over 100 live stakes with the bud facing up to facilitate growth. The area where we planted the live stakes and fascines were plotted with polygons using another GIS app, Survey123, to upload the polygons onto the same map the gaps were plotted onto.
For the Hedgerow Project, the fascines and stakes served three main purposes. The first two relate traditional uses of fascines and stakes as they solidified the ground and served to limit wind and water erosion. This is especially relevant considering it was mud season and flooding was becoming an increasing consideration. Using live fascines and stakes provides the third purpose as the plantings will have full hedgerow benefits once they grow. Additionally, as an extra benefit, shrub willow blooms early, playing a key role for pollinators before other plants bloom.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Using a mixed approach integrating research, ground truthing, GIS methods, and farmer surveys, an in-depth understanding of hedgerows, their impacts, and their value to Intervale’s community agriculture landscape was developed. With this understanding, the Hedgerow Project seeks to enhance the landscape to benefit local farmers, Intervale as an organization, and the landscape's ecological health overall.
Concluding with recommendations, we recommend continuing to monitor the landscape and implement regenerative plantings in areas containing the biggest gaps in their hedgerows and enhancing other empty sections of the landscape not being used for agriculture. Using our updated maps, notes, and survey responses we can determine which areas are appropriate for enhancement and planting a new hedgerow. The farmer surveys frame what actions should be undertaken and why, like using hedgerows to limit shade and animal pressures. In terms of immediate action, we recommend enhancing areas with regenerative plantings using methods like live fascines or live stakes in the areas most needing it. These actions should be based on farmer surveys and the mapped hedgerow gaps and implemented in places where enhancement can be accomplished readily and either immediately benefit farmers or minimally impact them. In doing so, both farmer and ecological needs can be met and enhancement will be accomplished in the process of further compiling farmer perspectives.
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[3] Dorney, J. (2022, January 27). Hedgerows play key roles in landscapes. Shelburne News.
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[7] Courson, E., Ricci, B., Muneret, L., & Petit, S. (2024). Reducing pest pressure and insecticide use by increasing hedgerows in the landscape. Science of The Total Environment, 916 (170182). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170182.
[8] Bravo, C., Sarasa, M., Bretagnolle, V., & Pays, O. (2023). Hedgerows interact with forests to shape the abundance of mesopredators and their predation rate on eggs in farmland landscapes. Science of The Total Environment, 901(165712). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165712.
[9] Perkins, D. G., Perlut, N. G., & Strong, A. M. (2013). Minor Fitness Benefits for Edge Avoidance in Nesting Grassland Birds in the Northeastern United States. Auk (University of California Press), 130(3), 512–519. https://doi.org/10.1525/auk.2013.12163
[10] Chaowen, L., Shihua, T., Jingjing, H., & Yibing, C. (2007). Effects of plant hedgerows on soil erosion and soil fertility on sloping farmland in the purple soil area. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 27(6), 2191-2198. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-2032(07)60050-X.
[11] Vanneste, T., Van Den Berge, S., Riské, E., Brunet, J., Decocq, G., Diekmann, M., Graae, B. J., Hedwall, P., Lenoir, J., Liira, J., Lindmo, S., Litza, K., Naaf, T., Orczewska, A., Wulf, M., Verheyen, K., De Frenne, P., & Collins, B. (2020). Hedging against biodiversity loss: Forest herbs’ performance in hedgerows across temperate Europe. Journal of Vegetation Science, 31(5), 817–829. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12917
[12] First World War.com - Encyclopedia - Fascine Tanks. (n.d.). Www.firstworldwar.com. Retrieved April 3, 2024, from https://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/fascine.htm#:~:text=Fascine%20is%20an%20ancient%20word