What time of year is it best to survey hedges?
Arguably you can see more of the structure of a hedge in the winter, including the health of old stems at the base. However we suggest doing this survey when the hedge is in leaf. For this survey it is important to be able to identify the woody species in your hedge, so we recommend doing it in any season that the hedges are in leaf, most likely April to October. Although it is possible to identify these species from their twigs, it is more likely that some species get missed and the hedge data doesn't reflect the true diversity of the hedge, it is also nearly impossible to accurately estimate the % coverage of species when their leaves are not out.
- Survey guidelines
- Which type of survey should I use?
- How do I identify the woody species?
- Do I need a landowners permission to survey a hedgerow?
- How often can I survey my Hedgerow?
- What do the different ratings mean?
- Can I survey a hedge that has already been surveyed?
- How do I know what is the ‘start’ and ‘end’ of a hedge? They are all connected!
- How will this help hedgerows?
- What time of year is it best to survey hedges?
