Design by Detail: A tear in the seam

TEXT BY VICTORIA TAYLOR, OALA

Windbreak, treeline, greenfence, field margin, shelterbelt, fenceline, hedgerow, fencebottom.

These are some of the vernacular terms used to describe the linear living corridors that bend and flow along country roads and fields to create the familiar rural landscapes of southern Ontario. Whether intentionally planted to keep in livestock, left as a remnant edge from land clearing, or evolved into an accidental ecology seeded by wind or birds resting for a moment on a fence post, these biodiverse edges are the imprints of colonial occupation that mark a time and place in his- tory when land in proximity to local markets was valued for food production. These are the living seams that tie us to the rich cultural and agricultural heritage of Ontario.

As hedgerows across Ontario disappear due to changes in farming methods and technology, as well as expanding urbanization and lack of heritage protection, what is the role for landscape architects as professionally trained advocates of natural and cultural heritage? Can the design detail, the designer’s primary tool to communicate a conceptual idea in visual form, be used to activate a conversation and aid a community’s work to raise public awareness about the beauty and cultural heritage value of the Ontario hedgerow?

In the U.K., well-established groups are dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of hedgerows, and their efforts are reinforced by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 of England and Wales. Since the legislation came into effect, it is a criminal offence to remove a hedgerow in contravention of the regulations. In a 2010 article in The Independent, writer Emily Duggan notes: “As well as having a nostalgic place in the aesthetics of the countryside, hedgerows are a vital part of the ecosystem.” She reports that research by Hedgelink, a network of British hedge conservation groups, shows that with- out hedgerows, some 130 species—from the hedgehog and the dormouse to stag beetles and the cuckoo—would be under threat. She quotes Nigel Adams, vice-chairman of the National Hedgelaying Society: “The hedgerow is the unsung hero of our countryside. It’s often overlooked, but visitors to England say it’s what makes it so special.”

In Canada, there is a nascent citizen-led movement to raise awareness about the cultural, ecological, and economic value of hedgerows as living natural and heritage landscapes. Although there is vague language in provincial and federal laws, regulations, and policy statements that recognizes the value of natural corridors and heritage areas, collaborative action is needed due to increased habitat loss, soil erosion, and more frequent winter road closures along country roads due to the effects of blowing snow— all of which are connected with the loss of hedgerows. The removal of hedgerows is, most obviously, a visual sign of changes in the operation of the traditional mixed family farm and the global economics of food and feed production. On a cultural level, their removal is also a disturbing sign of how, in just one generation, we have so easily devalued and disassociated from history and the forces that celebrate natural beauty and spirit of place.

Ernest Margetson, an engineer, designer, and heritage advocate based in Prince Edward County, an agricultural area a few hours east of Toronto, describes how the intentional location of hedgerows frames their cultural context: “The layout and delineation of the fields within a farm are not accidental…the field pattern can be said to be strategically established with the practical limitations and physical nature of the farm always in mind. The size of the fields reflected the manageable working size, but also may have been determined by the ability to clear and establish workable land at the pioneer stage—that is, how much land could be cleared and prepared in one season. Also, it is evident that soil type and depth, topography, and drainage patterns also influenced the location of fences and field pattern.”

In Prince Edward County, many hedge- rows—markings of the 18th-century human hand directed by the Crown—still delineate the original farmscapes that were cleared when Loyalists fled to the area during the U.S. Revolutionary War. Recent efforts in this growing agro-tourism community echo the work of others who are speaking up for the unrecognized cultural, economic, and ecological values of hedgerows. After a few local Prince Edward County residents first noticed the unchecked removal of hedgerows, they joined together to form a group called Natural Heritage Conservation (NHC-PEC), and they have been hard at work meeting with local politicians, farmers, naturalists, and others to speak out against recent removals and to advocate for the value of hedgerows to be officially recognized as important natural heritage in the County’s Official Plan. As Elizabeth Blomme, a member of NHC-PEC, explains, “What we’re really looking for is cooperation from all landowners. We’re prepared to take the time to work towards a new approach that respects both the health of the land and the rights and needs of land- owners and the farming community.”

Ecologically and culturally, hedgerows create a system of connected routes across the landscape for large and small animals to travel, places for shelter and food during migration, and places offering shaded relief for cyclists and pedestrians traveling along country roads and trails. Along Prince Edward County’s Millennium Trail, a 48-kilometre publicly funded rails-to-trails project, adjacent hedgerows offer respite and refuge for humans and animals. For railpath visitors, the hedgerows animate the trail with the sound of birds, seasonal foliage colours, and the flowers of ruderal perennials and grasses. Intermittent openings in the hedgerow create natural thresholds leading off the railpath toward adjacent wineries or places of interest.

Michal Laszczuk, a recent MLA graduate from the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph, wrote his 2018 MLA thesis on the subject of hedgerows. In “Fencerows: Reinforcing regional identity in urban design,” his very thorough fieldwork and survey of fencerows resulted in a unique typology that considers the potential of hedgerows in the design of high-density urban developments. [See Ground 35, pp. 8-9, for an article by Michal Laszczuk on hedgerows.] Using standard detail design convention, Laszczuk deconstructed the layered elements of a typical Prince Edward County farm hedgerow, and he hopes that his work will be used by the group NHC-PEC in their advocacy.

Nina-Marie Lister, Associate Professor in the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University and a long-time Prince Edward County resident, has run several studios in the County with her students. In one, the students investigated the role of rural severances in changing development patterns in the County, and, in particular, the role of hedgerows in the Loyalist landscape. Lister notes, “The students recognized the morphology of the Prince Edward County hedgerow as integral to the long lot lines, and an important ecological edge condition. As a transition space connecting one ecosystem to another, they found that hedgerows tend to exhibit high levels of species richness even at minimum widths of 3 metres. Interspersed with crop plants and grasses, there can be forest species characteristic of the Carolinian or Eastern Deciduous Forest including red and white oak, butternut, shagbark hickory, black cherry, and on more sandy soils, even white pine. More typically, though, it’s the particular layering of native and non-native pioneer species—lilac, eastern red cedar, wild rose, staghorn sumac, various dogwoods, and Manitoba maple— that increases the habitat complexity and provides important bird and mammal habitat with a system of landscape connectivity.”

As professionals in land-use interpretation, landscape architects can appreciate the richly layered roles of these historical cultural relics, functioning ecologies, and critical wild- life corridors, and, likewise, the advocacy challenges faced by local groups who must work against the reality of the highly man- aged farming regime of cash cropping and the pressures of land development felt by rural communities near large urban centres.

Landscape architects are uniquely qualified as leaders to help local groups like NHC- PEC build community-based appreciation for the place-specific qualities of these living landscapes. The OALA strives to sup- port landscape architects who improve and conserve the natural, cultural, social, and built environment, which has a very strong link to the Ontario Heritage Trust mandate to “promote and conserve Ontario’s heritage in all of its forms.” Starting a conversation about this common goal would go a long way to supporting these efforts.

NATURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION, A PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY-BASED, CITIZEN-LED GROUP, IS DEDICATED TO THE CONSERVATION AND STEWARDSHIP OF PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY’S RICH NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE BY:

• reviving and updating proposals to establish a viable, County-wide natural heritage system;
• halting the unchecked clear-cutting of hedgerows and woodlands;
• safeguarding the vital role of hedgerows as natural corridors for County wildlife;
• consulting with the agricultural community to find solutions that balance productivity concerns with environmental responsibility;
• promoting the County’s historic farmscapes as potentially significant cultural heritage landscapes under the Ontario Heritage Act;
• ensuring that the final version of the County’s new Official Plan reflects these concerns;
• working with residents, Prince Edward County’s Council, and other stakeholders to develop appropriate, enforceable measures to achieve these goals.

To contact Natural Heritage Conservation, email Elizabeth Blomme at [email protected] or Bill Bonter at [email protected] or visit their Facebook page, Natural Heritage Conservation.

BIO/ VICTORIA TAYLOR, OALA, PRINCIPAL OF VTLA, DESIGNS SPACES INFORMED AND INSPIRED BY CONTEXT, ECOLOGY, SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT, AND HORTICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES. VTLA ENGAGES WITH LANDSCAPE AS AN ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL PRACTICE THROUGH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COMMISSIONS, CURATORIAL PROJECTS, TEACHING, WRITING, AND TEMPORARY INSTALLATION ARTWORKS. TAYLOR IS A SESSIONAL INSTRUCTOR AND CRITIC AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO’S JOHN H. DANIELS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE, AND DESIGN, AND AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, AND IS A NEW MEMBER OF THE GROUP NATURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION (NHC-PEC).

THE AUTHOR WOULD LIKE TO THANK PLANTSMAN, BUILDER, AND LANDSCAPE DESIGNER NEIL TURNBULL, OALA, OF HEDGEROW FARM, FOR HIS EARLY INSPIRATIONS FOR THE PIECE, AND MICHAL LASZCZUK FOR HIS DRAWINGS AND CONTRIBUTIONS.