Making More of Your Hedgerows and Beetle Banks

Planting hedgerows and beetle banks is a great way of enhancing habitats, but according to Arthur Barraclough at Bright Seeds, the benefits can be multiplied by drilling conservation crops either side of the new wildlife corridor.

Why is it important to not just plant hedgerows, but use a mixture to support them?

Hedgerows naturally create safe cover for farmland wildlife, including the ideal environment for ground nesting birds. Once the chicks hatch, most notably with grey partridges, a strong supply of insects is essential.

However, if the hedge is neighboured by a monoculture of arable or grass, then it is highly likely that the insect count will be low, resulting in a lack of food source for the chicks.

In contrast, if a nectar flower mixture or wildflower margin has been established, then the quantity of pollinating insects will naturally be much higher, meaning the food source will be greater.

Likewise, winter cover is vital in protecting many species from predators. Although the hedgerow or beetle bank will provide this to a certain extent, by mid-winter they are likely to be leafless and bare. So, growing a winter bird food mix that provides winter hardy cover can be extremely beneficial.

What products do Bright Seeds have that are suited to this?

In an ideal world, you should aim to plant a feed/cover mix on one side and a nectar producing mix on the other side of the hedgerow – and the Bright Seeds product portfolio can tick both of these boxes.

For the feed mix, our trademark wild bird mix – Pheasant and Finch (CAHL2, AHL2, AB9) - is a popular starting point. The kale and sorghum last well into the winter, whilst the food value comes from millet, linseed, triticale and quinoa. Other options that work well for this include our Easy Grow Mix, Early Bird and Save Our Song Bird – which the latter of these three was developed in conjunction with The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

For the nectar mix, our Nectar Flower (CAHL1, AHL1, AB1) mix ticks all the boxes, with a wide flowering window and an array of legume and wildflower species.

Another more permanent option is to establish a wildflower margin consisting of traditional low impact grasses mixed with native wildflower species such as black medick, yarrow and ox-eye daisy. The key for establishing a successful wildflower margin is ensuring that you create a clean seed-bed prior to drilling to reduce weed competition. Then, once established, the plot should be cut and removed every autumn to help prevent the soil fertility from rising and to stop the grass species dominating over time.

Is the use of mixtures like this alongside hedges and beetle banks something that you are seeing more of?

It certainly is, this tactic is becoming a common sight across farms, which is pleasing considering the number of benefits that it carries.

The same system has been implemented by wild-bird shoots for many years, primarily because of the benefits to ground-nesting birds. But aside from wild-bird shoots aside, locating your conservation crops beside hedgerows and beetle banks makes sense from a farm habitat perspective.

The nectar mixes will boost the population of beneficial insects, thus improving the effectiveness of the beetle bank. Similarly, the winter bird food crop will complete the puzzle by providing food and cover for farmland wildlife.

Bright Seeds Benefits

We know that one of the real key benefits of hedgerows is the way they work to create safe corridors between larger areas of favourable habitats. So, by planting extra areas either side of your hedgerows, you are only improving these areas and making them more suitable for a larger range of wildlife – therefore going even further in creating a ‘patchwork quilt’ of different habitats across the land.

Our regional advisors are on hand to help advise best practise and where the best location is to undertake this, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries about what you’ve read.

Not only do we have range of mixtures in stock to assist in making more of your hedges and beetle banks, but we now provide BN11 Hedging mixtures – so we can provide what is required from start to finish.