Hedgerows have a long and drawn-out history, having been used as windbreaks, property markers and livestock fences for hundreds of years. The first hedgerows were put up in Europe 4000-6000 years ago during the Neolithic period. The hedges in France became famous after Allied forces had to develop special attachments in order for their tanks to break through them. Even today thousands of hedgerows are still maintained throughout the United Kingdom as well as Europe. However, very few people know or even care that in the United States we once had an extensive system of hedgerows as well.

In the northeast United States where I live the most common tree used in these old hedgerows was Osage Orange, fittingly also called Hedge Apple. The area I grew up in, in particular, has a huge number of abandoned overgrown Osage hedgerows, reminders that all this was farmland at one point. When I was a kid I used to wonder how these trees with their scraggly curving branches, softball sized bright green fruit(which we nicknamed "monkey brains") and bright orange bark had ended up growing in straight lines, especially along the old windy back roads. This question perplexed my for years until I finally did the research.

Historically Osage Orange only grew in the Red River Drainage in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. There it was prized by the Osage Nation for bow wood for its flexibility and durability. Many believe these trees made the Osage nation powerful and wealthy before the colonization of America. At one point a good Osage bow was worth a horse and a blanket. Europeans who colonized America later discovered the Osage trees were perfect for constructing living fences or hedgerows. The tree's long sharp needle-like protrusions were a perfect deterrent for cattle before the invention of barbed wire. They were planted very close together and in straight lines, and allowed to grow freely a couple of years before being cut down at ground level. The resulting fast-growing shoots were woven together to form a natural fence. Evidence of this can still be seen on many old hedgerows where many of the dead trunks are cut at 3 to 4 feet. The naturally rot resistant wood insured that even hedgerows that had died lasted for decades after the fact. Hedgerows remained the only efficient way to fence in large fields from colonial times until the late 1800's. After the invention of barbed wire, however, many hedgerows were abandoned or removed. Osage trees even became a large source of fence posts, though in many cases farmers just stapled barbed wire to the unmaintained trees, which was far easier.

Today, while the hedgerow trees remain from hundreds of the hedgerows planted, particularly in nearby parks that used to be farmland, none that I know of are actually maintained in any way and very few people know of their history or even notice them at all. And though very few hedgerows here are in danger of removal many are in danger due to neglect. Trees in the tightly spaced rows that are cut, fall down or die are never replaced. Many were removed in the early part of the 1900's and continue to be removed from existing farms, leaving a very small number of surviving hedgerows which still serve a rural purpose.

In the future I'd like to see more awareness of this important feature of the landscape, as well as preservation efforts. In Britain there are active groups devoted to preservation and maintenance of the nation's many historic hedgerows but no such organization exists, that I know of, in the United States. Though hedgerows were as much a part of our culture as well. Hedgerows have many beneficial qualities, which is another reason that their planting and restoration would have positive results. They were planted in the Great Plains states in the 1940's to stop erosion and act as a wind break. Strategically placed hedgerows can keep your house cool in summer and hot in winter. They also provide crucial wildlife habitat and are a good source of firewood. Osage wood actually is one of the best types of wood for fires, burning very hot and very long. A chemical in the inedible fruit has also been proven to act as an insect repellent for things like mosquitoes, an old tradition being to place the fruit under your bed.
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The Osage hedgerow pictured is located in White Clay Creek State Park and intersects with an abandoned one lane road bordered by two other pristine hedgerows. In many of these you can see remnants of the interwoven lower branches remaining. Many also have barbed wire or mesh fencing nailed to them, added after farmers stopped maintaining the hedgerows. As much of this land was for livestock, removing the trees to free up farmland was unnecessary, so many of them remain.