Farmers and ranchers are looking for ways to increase pollinators on their land in order to increase crop productivity and reduce pest pressure naturally. One effective solution is to plant hedgerows. Through the Healthy Soils Grant Program (HSP) and the Pollinator Habitat Program (PHP), funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), farmers can select a Hedgerow as one of the funded conservation practices and receive financial and technical support to implement it on their land.
So, What is a Hedgerow?
For CDFA HSP and PHP grants, the definition of a Hedgerow comes from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Conservation Practice Standard (422), Hedgerow Planting, which is the establishment of dense perennial vegetation in a linear design for conservation purposes. A hedgerow should grow to about ≥3 ft tall and up to 15 feet wide. For the CDFA HSP program, a hedgerow should be made up of pollinator-friendly trees, shrubs, and perennial wildflowers and be planted at a density of at least 200 live plants per acre. Although they take up a relatively small footprint, their benefits are significant. These hedgerows can bridge fragmented habitats and help birds, pollinators and other critters in their movement across the landscape. Additionally, these plantings act as a barrier and filter for airborne particulate matter such as dust from a dirt road and car traffic pollution. Hedgerows block low winds, and last but not least, hedgerows increase carbon storage in soils.
Full grown hedgerow at Churchill Orchard in Ojai, CA.
Thus far, Ventura County Resource Conservation District’s CDFA HSP block grant is supporting 47 On-Farm projects implementing 2,502 total acres of healthy soil practices including hedgerows, mulch, compost and more. These farms are located in Ventura, Santa Barbara, Fresno and Kern Counties. One of those farms is Moon + Oaks Farm in Ojai, CA which is a 10 acre farm with cut flowers, an olive orchard and more. They are planting three hedgerows made up of native and non-native plants including Western blue elderberry, White sage, California wildrose, Bush sunflower, Coffeeberry, Hoary coffeeberry, 4 species of Ceonothus (Ceanothus ‘Concha’, Ceanothus ‘Julia Phelps’, Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’ and Ceanothus emoryi) Sugar Bush, Desert Lavender, Coyote Mint, and Rosemary. These hedgerows will increase biodiversity on their farm, therefore benefitting the local wildlife, pollinators, soil, and crops.
4-inch pots of Foothill Penstemon, White Sage, Ceanothus, and Purple Needlegrass
Planting Your Own Hedgerows
Now that you know the benefits of planting hedgerows, are you ready to plant your own? You don’t need to have a farm to plant a hedgerow, it can be planted anywhere with enough space! You can plant one at your home as a living fence that not only provides benefits to the local ecosystem, but creates an exciting spot to watch all of the life it brings.
Planting a hedgerow can seem like a daunting task, but breaking it down into simple steps can set you up for success. Here are 4 Easy Steps to get you started:
1. Choose your Location
Whether you’re planting on a farm, ranch, or at home, start by mapping out how long the hedgerow will be and make sure you have enough space for the plants to eventually grow taller and wider. Choose a linear spot for the hedgerow such as along a fence line, next to a road or bordering a field or orchard.
2. Select your Plants
Look up native plants to your area using tools such as Calflora. Planting species that are native to your area helps provide food and shelter for local pollinators, prevents erosion, and saves water! Make sure to check that nurseries near you have these plants in stock so that you can source them locally. You can plant your hedgerow plants from 1-gallon or 4-inch pots, but you could also grow the plants from seed to save money if you have the time and resources.
3. Prepare your Planting Site
Setting up your planting site is one of the most important steps. The CDFA HSP grant requires irrigation for establishment. If you are setting up an irrigation line, make sure to do that before you plant. Create an irrigation schedule and plan to ensure that the plants get enough water as they are establishing for a few years. Native plants are usually able to wean off water better than non-native plants. You can add wood chip mulch to the hedgerow to add organic matter to the soil and to decrease water evaporation and retain soil moisture. Make sure to remove weeds in the planting area to ensure that the hedgerow plants will not be in competition with anything else, this will give your plants the best chance to establish in their new environment. Choose your plant spacing based on plant size at maturity and how dense you want your planting to be. You can also choose a planting pattern based on pollinator pairs, ensuring that plants bloom at different times of year, or you can arrange the plants randomly. Once your layout is ready, plant your hedgerow plants. You can choose to fertilize the plants as they are planted by adding compost or compost tea.
Newly planted hedgerow at Moon + Oaks Farm
4. Maintain your Hedgerow Planting
Congratulations! You now have a hedgerow planted and the land is reaping many benefits, including increased pollinator activity. To ensure that you are not killing the pollinators you attract, avoid using pesticides on or around your hedgerow by practicing Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Integrated Pest Management is an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties (UCANR). Growers participating in the CDFA Pollinator Habitat Program are required to attend an IPM Training. Visit our IPM Link Tree to learn more about IPM and visit our YouTube Channel to watch VCRCD’s Virtual IPM Training.
Full grown hedgerow at Churchill Orchard in Ojai, CA
Sources:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/422_NHCP_CPS_Hedgerow_Planting_2023_0.pdf
https://xerces.org/blog/all-about-hedgerows-why-they-help-wildlife-and-how-to-plant-them
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/what-is-ipm/#gsc.tab=0
https://ucanr.edu/site/mg-sonoma/natives-hedge-row