Hedgerows and margins are very important for the biodiversity of horticultural gardens, since they provide pollination, pest control, erosion control, etc.
When creating or reinforcing hedgerows (that is, generally a line of woody plants), I take into account to use authoctonous plants and plants that grow naturally around the area, to maximize the number of different species and families, flowering and fruiting periods that cover all the months of the year and different colors for the flowers, to have some species with spikes... and plants that promote pollination, pest control and erosion control, among others.
But a doubt I always had is: should those plants be distributed in a way as heterogeneous as possible... or should they be grouped sometimes (that is 5 or 10 individuals of the same species together, or promoting some associations) to recreate phyotosociological patterns? Maybe a good option could be to have a bit of both approaches right? What does the science say about it?
Looking forward to hear your contributions
Thank you
My understanding is that hedgerows that grow naturally do have some grouping of plants due to self seeding or root suckers . These are often interspersed with individual plants than have been transported by birds and animals . It depends what type of hedgerow you want to produce and for what purpose . Ornamental or a natural barrier for livestock !