Hedge your bets

The borders between the UK's countryside fields are as important to us as they are to the wildlife that lives there

- DAISY FOX

LOOK at our countryside from above and you can see that it is crisscrossed with miles of hedgerows. These long stretches of vegetation, made up of shrubs such as hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple and hazel, are filled with different plants and animals, from tiny insects to birds and mammals such as hedgehogs and voles.

In September, hedgerows are brimming with multicoloured berries. Birds love feasting on sloes, rosehips, elderberries, haws and blackberries. Hazelnuts are favoured by small mammals - try to spot one that has been nibbled by a dormouse. Wild blooms, such as the white trumpets of hedge bindweed, tiny bunches of yarrow flowers and ivy offer vital nectar for pollinators. Butterflies such as red admirals, peacocks and commas can still be seen basking in the autumn sunshine.

As well as being an important habitat, hedges help to divide land, define fields and contain livestock.