Dog trail-stop 5

Stop 5 - Golf Shop

Hedgerows provide song posts, shelter, and nesting opportunities for lots of birds such as yellowhammers, whitethroats, blue tits, and great tits. And their nectar, berries,nuts, and leaves providing food for an assortment of invertebrates, mammals, and birds.

Alongside being wonderful habitats, hedges can help reduce soil erosion and water run-off (on arable land), and act as wildlife corridors by linking up different habitats!

Many of our hedgerows are now in unfavourable condition (lots of gaps, limited biodiversity, thin, poor management, etc). We need more species-rich, effectively managed hedgerows to keep all the benefits we and our lovely wildlife gain from them.

Here you can see a great example of the species-rich hedgerows planted in the 1990s in an aim to restore this vital habitat and create wildlife corridors across our British countryside and urban parks.

A mix of species were planted including Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Dog Rose, Elder, Birch,Spindle, and Oak. Our native Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and Sessile oak (Quercus petraea) support 2,300 species with 326 species dependent on Oaks for their survival; making them one of the best trees to plant in hedgerows (or in your gardens!).

While you enjoy a relaxing dog walk, why not see how many birds, bugs, and mammals you can spot using these wonderful hedgerows in one way or another.

Find out more about bringing your dog to Hengistbury Head