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Flower strips, hedgerows and road verges: what they do for pollinators

Sown flower strips, farm hedgerows and road verges are the pollinator habitat that public money and council mowers actually decide. The evidence says they work — for some things more than others, and much better when managed well.

PollinationReviewed 2026-09-29

Why this scale matters

Gardens get most of the advice and a small share of the land. The habitat that decides whether farmland supports pollinators is at field margins, in hedgerows and along the network of road verges that runs through every landscape — land whose management is decided by agri-environment payments, highway authorities and contractors' mowing schedules rather than by individuals. This guide covers what the syntheses of that evidence found, and what the one current payment scheme recorded here pays for.

What the evidence says

Flower strips, hedgerows and road verges: what the syntheses found
InterventionFindingAboutStrength, as the source grades itEvidence base
Flower stripsFlower strips enhanced pest control in adjacent fields by 16% on average.Pest controlMean effect across studiesQuantitative synthesis of 18 studies of pest control and 17 of pollination, North America, Europe and New Zealand
Flower stripsEffects on the pollination of adjacent crops and on crop yield were more variable than the effect on pest control.Crop pollinationVariable across studiesQuantitative synthesis of 18 studies of pest control and 17 of pollination, North America, Europe and New Zealand
Flower stripsThe pollination benefit declined exponentially with distance from the planting.Crop pollinationIdentified driver of variabilityQuantitative synthesis of 18 studies of pest control and 17 of pollination, North America, Europe and New Zealand
Flower stripsPerennial and older flower strips with more flowering plant species enhanced pollination more effectively than annual, young or species-poor ones.Crop pollinationIdentified driver of variabilityQuantitative synthesis of 18 studies of pest control and 17 of pollination, North America, Europe and New Zealand
HedgerowsHedgerows, unlike flower strips, did not enhance pest control in adjacent fields.Pest controlNo significant mean effectQuantitative synthesis of 18 studies of pest control and 17 of pollination, North America, Europe and New Zealand
Road vergesRoad verges are often hotspots of flowers and pollinators.PollinatorsWell establishedFormal global literature review of 140 studies
Road vergesTraffic and road pollution can cause mortality and other harm to pollinators.PollinatorsWell establishedFormal global literature review of 140 studies
Road vergesThe benefits of road verges to pollinators far outweigh the costs.PollinatorsEstablished but incompleteFormal global literature review of 140 studies
Road vergesRoad verges can be enhanced for pollinators through strategic management.PollinatorsWell establishedFormal global literature review of 140 studies
Road vergesReduce mowing to between none and two cuts a year, avoid mowing between spring and late summer, and remove the cuttings.ManagementOne of the review's three most strongly supported recommendationsFormal global literature review of 140 studies
Road vergesCreate high-quality habitat on new and existing verges.ManagementOne of the review's three most strongly supported recommendationsFormal global literature review of 140 studies
Road vergesReduce the impact of street lighting — fewer fixtures, lower intensity, shorter hours, less harmful technologies.ManagementOne of the review's three most strongly supported recommendationsFormal global literature review of 140 studies
Road vergesVary management across the verge: mow the front twice a year (early summer and from late summer), the middle once from late summer, and leave the back uncut or on a multi-year rotation.ManagementRecommendation (not among the three most strongly supported)Formal global literature review of 140 studies

Each strength is the source's own grading, carried over rather than re-scored. An effect on pollinators is not an effect on the neighbouring crop, and the table keeps them in separate rows.

Checked 2026-09-29 against: The effectiveness of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control, pollination services and crop yield: a quantitative synthesis (Ecology Letters, 2020); Enhancing road verges to aid pollinator conservation: a review (Biological Conservation, 2020).

Two patterns run through the findings. The first is that the benefit to pollinators is better established than the benefit to crops: verges are well established as places pollinators use, while flower strips' effect on the pollination of the field next door varies from study to study. The second is that quality decides the outcome. A perennial strip with many flowering species that has had years to establish does more than an annual mix sown last spring, and a verge cut once from late summer does more than one cut every month.

Managing a road verge for pollinators

  1. Cut lessBetween none and two cuts a year. Every cut removes the flowers pollinators feed on and can kill insects, eggs and larvae in the sward.
  2. Cut laterAvoid mowing between spring and late summer, when most pollinators are active and most verge plants are flowering or setting seed.
  3. Take the cuttings awayCuttings left lying enrich the soil and smother the low-growing flowers that pollinators use. Removing them, or piling them in one place, keeps fertility down over time.
  4. Vary it across the vergeWhere there is room, mow the strip nearest the road twice, the middle once from late summer and leave the back uncut or on a rotation of several years — a mix of heights and flowering times from one verge.
  5. Mind the lightsFewer, dimmer and shorter-running street lights, with less harmful technologies, reduce the disruption to night-flying pollinators.

What schemes pay

What public schemes pay for pollinator habitat
SchemeWhereActionRateMain conditionsAs of
Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26)EnglandCAHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mix£739 per hectare per year, 3-year actionGrass-free seed mix of at least 6 flower species, none more than half the mix by weight; At least 2 of common knapweed, musk mallow, oxeye daisy, wild carrot or yarrow; Established between early spring and early autumn, within 12 months of the start date; No fertilisers or manures; no pesticides except specified herbicide control of weeds; Not used for regular vehicle access, turning or storage2026-06-17

Payment rates change with each scheme round and apply only to new agreements under that round. The rate is what the scheme pays, not a measure of what the habitat achieves.

Checked 2026-09-29 against: CAHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mix (updated for SFI26) (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Rural Payments Agency, 2026).

The payment is for doing the action to the scheme's conditions, not for the outcome — the rate says what the public purse values the land at, not what the flowers achieve. The conditions are where the ecology lives: a minimum number of species, named native flowers, no fertiliser, and no use as a turning area. They line up with what the evidence rewards, though a three-year action is shorter than the age at which the synthesis found strips working best.

The claims on this page

Every substantive claim is placed on a tier, and the top two tiers must also state what they are not claiming.

Established evidence

Supported by systematic reviews, meta-analyses or clinical/regulatory guidance. The claim would survive a careful reader checking it.

Established evidence

Flower strips beside crops increase natural pest control in those crops.

A quantitative synthesis of 18 studies across North America, Europe and New Zealand found flower strips enhanced pest control in adjacent fields by 16% on average; hedgerows did not show the same effect.

What this does not claim: It does not show that flower strips raise crop yield, whose response was variable, or that every strip in every setting works; and it says nothing on its own about wild pollinator populations.

  • The effectiveness of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control, pollination services and crop yield: a quantitative synthesis — Ecology Letters (2020) · Meta-analysis Link
Established evidence

Cutting road verges less often, later and with the cuttings removed benefits pollinators.

A global review of 140 studies found road verges can be enhanced for pollinators through management (well established) and named reduced mowing, at 0–2 cuts a year, among its three most strongly supported recommendations.

What this does not claim: It is not a claim that verges should go uncut at junctions or where safety requires it, nor that the right regime is the same on every soil and in every climate.

  • Enhancing road verges to aid pollinator conservation: a review — Biological Conservation (2020) · Systematic review Link

Sources

  • The effectiveness of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control, pollination services and crop yield: a quantitative synthesis — Ecology Letters (2020) · Meta-analysis Link
  • Enhancing road verges to aid pollinator conservation: a review — Biological Conservation (2020) · Systematic review Link
  • CAHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mix (updated for SFI26) — Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Rural Payments Agency (2026) · Regulatory guidance Link

How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.

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