30 Sep 2024
We are delighted to announce the winners of this year's Esmond Harris Award for Innovation in Small Woodland Management.
Carolyn Church and Hugh Ross were awarded the accolade in recognition of their work to develop an effective technique of dead hedging in their woodland in Rawhaw Wood, Northamptonshire. The couple received the award certificate at the Small Woods AGM, held at our headquarters, the Green Wood Centre, on Saturday, September 28.
Speaking of their win, they said it was "totally unexpected" as they had been put forward anonymously. Carolyn said: "We were surprised to receive it and were really pleased. We've been using this technique for 25 years now and it works for us, so it is nice for us to be able to pass it on to other people."
Hugh added: "One of the things that was gratifying was the supportive comments and compliments from people about our dead hedging – we were quite touched."
Their winning technique uses brash bundles, packed between stakes up to a height of around 6ft, creating a natural structure that provides an impenetrable barrier to deer, enabling hazel coppice to regrow unhindered. As well as keeping costs to a minimum, Carolyn and Hugh's method provides a valuable habitat that is used as a wildlife corridor and hunting ground. After four or five years, the dead hedge begins to slowly decompose, accommodating various types of invertebrates and fungi, before some of its carbon is reabsorbed into the soil.
Hugh said it was a good way to avoid burning brash in woodlands by making something out of what would otherwise have been a waste product. He also stressed the benefits dead hedging has for wildlife, and said: "In the early stages, you see birds nesting in the top of it and over a period of time, you see small mammals, like weasels, stoats and voles, using it. We have also found grass snakes in the final decomposition."
Their technique was outlined in an article in the Summer 2024 edition of Smallwoods magazine.
An example of Carolyn and Hugh's dead hedging in their woodland in Northamptonshire.
