LIFE LINES

Healthy hedgerows teem with wildlife- and absorb greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Anna Turns celebrates these unsung wonders of the countryside and learns how to keep them flourishing

- Anna Turns

Tom Hynes shoulders his toolbag and sets off from his Devon farmhouse. On the winding country lane, he pauses and points out a tiny plant growing in the hedgerow bank. Dog's mercury, at first glance, seems quite unremarkable, until Tom explains that these plants favour well-established woods and are a subtle sign that the hedgerow contains remnants of ancient forest dating back more than 400 years.

Yet more treasures lie within this landscape near Winkleigh, north of Dartmoor. Through the wooden five-bar gate, Tom steps into a narrow acre of pasture, marked out by hedgerows that have grown here since the 12th century. "This is a seriously old hedge - it's a culturally important connection to our past," explains Tom.

Dressed in sturdy welly boots and old work clothes, Tom is here to carry out annual maintenance before these hedgerows of willow, hazel, field maple, and blackthorn burst into leaf in spring. He last laid this section 30 years ago; each winter he restores a different hedgerow on his 20-hectare farm. For Tom, hedges are more than artefacts. He firmly believes that the highly skilled craft of hedge-laying holds the key to protecting biodiversity, capturing carbon, and adapting to the climate crisis. He would love to see more hedgerows maintained in this traditional way. In fact, he says, the planet depends on it.

WHY SAVE HEDGEROWS?