Hello Hello Hedgerow!

In this PocKit Robot adventure, Poc, Kit and their friend Kasey discover the magic of the humble hedgerow. At first glance it looks like a simple row of plants — but step closer and it’s alive with colour, sound and activity. From hedgehogs and birds to buzzing insects, blossoms and berries, hedgerows are busy highways of life, connecting the countryside together.

🌼 PocKit Robot’s fresh pair of alien eyes remind us how easy it is to overlook everyday habitats like hedgerows — and how vital they are for food, shelter, and safe passage for so many creatures.

Fascinaturing Facts!

Read more about… Hedgerows!

Nature Corridors… Growing Up!

Hedgerows are brilliant nature corridors — long, leafy highways that help creatures travel safely from place to place. Remember how PocKit followed the hedgerow and found creatures hopping, buzzing, rustling and zipping along it. As well as hiding.

And even more fascinaturing…. The taller a hedgerow grows, the more biodiverse it becomes!
(You heard that word in the films — bi-o-di-ver-se!)

Taller hedgerows have:

• More branches for birds
• More blossoms for bees
• More berries for winter snacks
• More shady, cosy spaces for animals to hide
• More types of plants, mosses and fungi
• More room for everyone!

That’s why many farmers are now choosing to let their hedgerows grow taller — they know it helps wildlife and their land stay healthy. They also wait until autumn to trim them. Because in the spring and summer:

• Birds are nesting
• Eggs are hatching
• Baby birds are learning to fly
• Flowers are blooming for bees and butterflies
• Berries are starting to grow

If the hedgerow were trimmed too early, creatures might lose their homes or food. Nature gets a chance to rest and grow — and we get even more biodiverse hedgerows!

Hedge Laying – Nature’s Neat Trick

Did you know, hedgerows need a bit of help to stay… well… hedgerows! If they were left alone for too long, they’d eventually grow up into tall trees with big gaps beneath them. And creatures can’t travel safely through gaps! That’s where hedge laying comes in — a skill that’s been around for hundreds of years. In winter, when the farm work was quieter, workers would carefully hinge, bend and weave the stems of the hedge sideways, so it grew thick and bushy again. It kept people employed in the colder months and kept the hedgerow thick,, safe, and full of life. Hedge laying is still done today because it helps the hedge stay a proper, bustling nature corridor.

Hedgerows that Follow the Land

Long ago, people didn’t just plant hedgerows anywhere. They followed the curves and contours of the land, snaking along hillsides, dipping into valleys, and tracing the shapes of fields. By doing that, they helped farms and villages manage water during heavy rain. These contour-following hedges slowed the flow of storm water and kept it on the land for longer — which meant less flooding, healthier soil, and more creatures with cosy homes along the edges. Nature and people were working together without even realising it! When farm machinery started to replace humans, a lot of hedgerows were ripped out to make it easier for tractors. But these days we realise that what’s good for nature is good for humans too and there are projects to join up and replant hedgerows again.

The Blackdown Hills’ Double Hedgerows

And then there’s something extra fascinaturing… the double hedgerows of the Blackdown Hills!
If you’ve ever walked here, you might have noticed places where two hedgerows run side-by-side with a little strip between them, which is fun for humans to run through too. These “double hedges” are wonderfully old and wonderfully wild — like nature’s twin corridors. They often mark ancient boundaries and create super-safe travel routes for animals. Birds can hop between both hedges, mammals can hide in the middle strip, and insects get twice as many flowers to feed on. It’s a magical place where history and biodiversity grow together in every twist and tangle.

One of our favourite places to run through the middle of hedgerows is at our neighbour’s place: Goren Farm

We’d love to hear what you’ve spotted or have growing near your home or school!

Write to us at discovery@pockit.life and tell us:

• Have you seen any tall hedgerows near you? Or short ones.

• What creatures have you noticed using them as nature corridors?

• Did you spot flowers, berries, or bird nests? PocKit loves it when snowdrops are growing on them when the branches are still bare.

• Can you see how the hedgerow links one place to another?

We’d love to feature your discoveries here or on social media!

Activities

🌿 Hedgerow Height Hunt
Find a hedgerow with a grown-up. Is it tall, short, or somewhere in the middle? What creatures might like that height?

🐦 Nesting Season Noticer
Look (from a safe distance!) for signs of bird nests. Remember: in spring and summer, hedgerows are nurseries!

🎨 Biodiversity Bonanza Map
Draw a hedgerow and fill it with as many different plants and creatures as you can — the taller it is, the more you can add!