RHS in praise of the humble hedge - "often the hero feature in any garden"

From the suburbs to the countryside they are the sensible staple of the British landscape.

Subtle in their presence, hedges can easily be overlooked amid their more eye-catching garden bedfellows.

But who can imagine rolling rural vistas without them; or deny their ubiquitous role in the suburban tapestry?

Where would we be without a hedge over which to share a neighbourly gossip - or draw up the battle lines of local disputes?

However, these stalwart living boundaries also serve a much greater purpose in terms of supporting biodiversity and fighting back against climate change.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) research has already shown that hedges can improve air quality, slow the flow of rainwater, reduce noise, provide shelter for wildlife and help regulate temperature through shading and cooling - with beech, privet and holly among those known to provide all-round benefits.

Features such as leaf shape, texture and branch structure are all thought to make them more adept at various roles.

In the wake of the storms which hit the UK in February, the RHS urged gardeners to swap felled fences for hedges.

“Establishing a new hedge or maintaining an existing one may be the single most important action a gardener can take to combat the extremes of climate change, and support biodiversity,” said Mark Gush, the RHS head of environmental horticulture.

“Whether this be through evaporative cooling relief from heat waves, screening and protection from high winds, water uptake to alleviate extreme rainfall events, pollutant capture from traffic, or provision of wildlife habitat and corridors, hedges are great all-rounders.”