Roding Valley Meadows LNR - Hedgerows and Veteran trees

Hedgerows and veteran trees are hugely important features across the nature reserve. The hedgerows originally contained livestock and defined boundaries. Many of the hedgerows in the Roding Valley appear to be several hundred years old, and certain indicator species, only found in old hedgerows, such as spindle and field maple would seem to confirm their antiquity.

Special mention must be made of the green lane now sadly truncated by the M11 motorway. This is obviously very old, as it contains ash, oak, common and midland hawthorn, elder, elm, blackthorn, field maple, dogwood, hombeam, crab apple and hazel, an association of trees and shrubs often found in woodlands locally. Furthermore the lane contains plants such as honeysuckle, bluebell, foxglove, arum, wood poa (a grass) and even three species of moss (known only by their scientific names) Isopterigium elegatis, Mniuim hornum, and Pohlia nutans, which are all typical woodland plants in southern Essex. The other hedgerows are rather less rich than those of the green lane but nevertheless contain species such as midland hawthorn, common hawthorn, English elm, oak, elder and ash. One or two hedgerows contain clones of aspen (a clone is a group descended from a single plant), an uncommon hedgerow tree in Britain.

Management of the hedgerows appears to have been informal. There is scant evidence of layering, the traditional way of managing hedgerows, and only a few of the trees in the green lane have been coppiced. Elsewhere in the valley a few of the oak and hornbeam hedgerow trees have been pollarded.

Hedgerows are an important and integral part of the landscape. Many of the Roding Valley hedges are very overgrown and provide good nesting sites for birds, and cover for numerous small mammals such as mice and voles, as well as providing a home to many plant species. Insects such as springtails, beetles, flies and moths and other invertebrates such as slugs, snails, centipedes and millipedes are also found here.

Hedgerows are manmade features they cannot grow naturally in the wild as they need constant management to keep them in good form for wildlife. The craft of hedge laying is a form of hedgerow management which was practiced in late 18th century when hedges were laid over a wider area than today. Hedge laying is practiced in the nature reserve on many of the younger hedges.

Modern hedges provide:
• Proof (keep cattle in or out of the field) Hedges could be stock proof if properly managed.
• Boundary markers between one landowner and another (or parishes)
• Wind breaks (stopping crop being blown over)
• Shelters for animals
• Wildlife corridors (Hedges are a reservoir of wildlife and provide corridors for small mammals to travel along).

Information on the veteran trees discovered on the reserve can be found on the favourite trees website.