Hedgerows Toolkit for Rural & Working Lands
This Toolkit will help you learn about the science of hedgerows and their value in all settings, with a focus on agricultural & rural properties. Hedgerows are equally valuable in urban, suburban, and rural settings—the goals may be different, but a hedgerow can be sized and planted to fit in just about any landscape.
Toolkit Components – All the tools you need for success
All parts of the Toolkit are designed to interact, so you can follow all the steps necessary to design, plant, and successfully sustain hedgerow projects with confidence and efficiency.
Explore the series of tools on this site that will enable you to to achieve goals that enhance our landscapes, improve agricultural production, and protect local water resources.
What are hedgerows?
A hedgerow is a row—or several rows—of plantings that are designed to complement each other and ultimately weave together in an informal, multi-species hedge. Hedgerows are defined by groups or rows of trees and shrubs, sometimes with the additions of mixtures of perennial and annual grasses and flowers. Hedgerows are often planted along fence lines or property boundaries as substitutes for fences or privacy screens, to make pasture or field divisions, or along waterways to keep our waterways healthy and clean.
Hedgerows for Rural & Working Lands: A How-to Handbook provides the foundation of the Toolkit. It’s divided into four sections, with a focus on practical hands-on advice. The Handbook intersects with the other elements of the Toolkit on this site.
This sortable, searchable Plant Table lists and provides detailed characteristics for over 75 trees & shrubs to define a hedgerow’s woody footprint and successfully achieve numerous landscape goals. Use the Table to choose the best plants for your site’s conditions and project goals. (More tables coming in 2023-24 focusing on herbaceous plants!)
The Hedgerow Planting Templates provide ready-made planting plans customized for six different hedgerow goals. These ready-to-go templates provide primary options for all the layers of a hedgerow, and offer alternatives in each category so you can mix and match and select the right plants for your space.
Budget Categories & Examples (Appendix B) will help you understand the various possible cost centers, how to save money, and plan ahead for purchases.
Explore this cornucopia of resources for reaching community partners that can provide technical help, funding, and where to access more how-to background and support. Each of the categories below expands out to numerous resources!
Explore our growing video lessons to help you maximize your use of the Hedgerows Toolkit and gain more insights into the nuances of hedgerow design and implementation.
We’ll be offering online and field-based workshops for more learning & hands-on implementation practice! Sign up here to be notified of upcoming learning opportunities!
Produced by WSU Thurston County Extension
Sponsored & primarily funded by Thurston County Stormwater Program
Additional funding support provided by the Native Plant Salvage Foundation
** If you need the content provided on this page in a different format, please contact info@nativeplantsalvage.org **
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