Erosion TTool/Hedge Plantation

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Illustration of the practice of hedge planting within the serious game Erosion TTOOL. Credit: Delphine Hombrouckx

Hedges (hedges) are woody plant structures (trees, shrubs, bushes) that provide many benefits at the landscape scale.

Description

Benefits

• Effective fight against concentrated erosion.
• Runoff limitation thanks to a mechanical barrier effect (speed and amount of runoff water limited).
• Promotion of infiltration of runoff water and filtration of water by plants.
• Reduction of pollution towards watercourses by limiting the transport of solid particles (silt, sand), fertilizing elements, and polluting active substances.
• Protection of watercourses.
• Increase in biodiversity (fauna and flora).

Drawbacks

• Growth time of the hedge before benefits are realized.

Advice

• Location:
  • At the foot of slopes where the gradient >5%.
  • Perpendicular to the slope.
  • At slope corners.
  • At slope edges.
  • Reinforcing a grass strip along a watercourse or in a thalweg.
  • At the interface between plot/area of concern (watercourse, urban area, road).

• Installation :
  • Planting from late November to early March, water the plants.
  • 2 or 3 rows spaced 50 cm to 1 m along the entire plot.
  • Plants should be sufficiently close (30 to 50 cm between each plant).
  • Possibility to use a subsoiler (depth: 50 to 80 cm) and refine the soil.
  • A biodegradable mulch can be placed at the base of the plants to preserve moisture and limit weeds.

• The hedge must be regularly maintained :
  • Pruned so that the base thickens in a bushy manner.
  • 2^nd winter: Coppicing shrubs at 10-15 cm from the ground.
  • 3^rd winter: Lateral Pruning of trees and shrubs with a hedge width of at least 3 m.
  • Following years: Summer high-cut pruning of trees with a flail mower and annual lateral pruning.
  • Note, pruning prohibited between April 1 and July 31 (Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions GAEC).

Choice of plant species

• Preferably local and fast-growing.

• They must be adapted to the climate, non-invasive, and diverse to promote biodiversity.

• It is recommended to combine hedge planting with the establishment of a grass strip downstream.

Regulations

• Ecological Interest Area (EIA): 1 linear meter (lm) = 10 m² EIA with width < 10 m.
• Distance from hedge axis/property boundary: hedge height < 2 m: 0.5 m and hedge height > 2 m: 2 m.

Cost

• Installation: about €25/lm; maintenance: €0.15 to €0.20/lm.
• Subsidy rate (community rates and EC regulation) = 70% in non-disadvantaged areas to 80% in favored areas.