Historische heggen en houtwallen rond Heumen en Wijchen

Remains of hedges and woodbanks around Heumen and Wijchen (Gelderland) For the purpose of more accurate and well-founded restoration and maintenance of historical hedges and hedge banks in The Netherlands more research is needed on their regional typology and maintenance systems. The paper describes a regional inventory in the area south of Nijmegen in which more than three hundred relics of hedges and hedge banks were closely examined and contextualized. The project showed that the area traditionally did not show any traces of hedge laying. However, there were abundant relics of various traditional hedge wreathing systems. This new knowledge has important implications for future hedge management in the area and contradicts recent tendencies to copy English hedge laying techniques in Dutch regions where this technique has never been applied in the past.