hedgerow

From Middle English heggerowe, heggerewe, heggerawe, from Old English *heċġrāw, *heċġrǣw (attested only as Old English heġerǣwe, heġerēwe (“hedgerow”)), equivalent to hedge +‎ row.

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛd͡ʒɹəʊ/

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hedgerow (plural hedgerows)

1. A row of closely planted bushes or trees forming a hedge.

   Coordinate terms: fencerow; windbreak; shelterbelt

   • 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 91

     He had a suit of summer mufti, and a broad-brimmed blue beaver hat looped with leaves broken from the hedgerows in the lanes, and a Leander scarf tucked full of flowers: loosestrife, meadowrue, orchis, ragged-robin.

   • 1971, Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”:

     If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now, it's just a spring clean for the may queen

   • 2013 October 31, Frank McNally, “When Anglophone lines get crossed”, in The Irish Times‎^[1], Dublin: Irish Times Trust, archived from the original on 14 March 2021:

     The original ditches were created by digging trenches, as boundaries and/or irrigation. But to the English, the ditch is the trench. Whereas in Ireland, the ditch is the raised bank of earth and the hedgerow on top. (As for the trench, where I come from that’s a sheugh).

   • 2025 October 1, Dr Neil Strong, “Managing linesides”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 15:

     In fact, a railway lined with hedgerows and shrubs would be perfect for reliability and biodiversity. Hawthorn, for example, can take a good cut and grow back strongly, while still providing shelter for creatures and acting as a natural fence line.