Hedgerow decimated

treefan

My neighbour has decimated a mature hedgerow in early March which borders my land.

He hasnt destroyed it; just cut everything right down including loads of young trees which Im mad about.

Isnt this illegal to do this in early March? And why cant some farmers distinguish between fast growing briars etc and not young broadleaves that take a long time to grow????:mad:

reilig

treefan wrote: »

My neighbour has decimated a mature hedgerow in early March which borders my land.

He hasnt destroyed it; just cut everything right down including loads of young trees which Im mad about.

Isnt this illegal to do this in early March? And why cant some farmers distinguish between fast growing briars etc and not young broadleaves that take a long time to grow????:mad:

Its probably a hedgerow that he has to coppice as part of his REPS or AEOS Plan.

Why not ask him why he did it????

denis086

Where were they planted exactly on the border i wouldnt like to see some one planting heaps of trees along a boundry wall just taking light off the field. Even then im sure hed be entitled to trim any vegatation on his side

what happen

what did your neigbour do to the hedge and broadleaves.did he cut hedge and broadleaves trees in half and did he cut the sides or did he just cut the tops of everything.any chance of a few photos.

Rinker

Hedgerows are hugely valuable to wildlife in this country and offer many benefits to farmers too. They are home to a huge variety of insects which are the pollinators for all the crops we grow and offer shelter to cattle and sheep. They are also part of our heritage and are what gives the countryside in Ireland its unique character. Cutting them during the nesting season shows a level of ignorance which is hard to fathom. It is also illegal.
In general Irish farmers have been excellent custodians of the countryside. I'm sure your neighbour wouldn't mind carrying out his hedgerow maintenance a couple of weeks earlier if he understood that it actually does make quiet a difference. The Teagasc website has lots of information about maintaining farmland hedgerows.

Section 46 of the wildlife (amendment) Act of 2000 amends section 40 of the principal Wildlife Act(http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA38Y2000.html). It is now an offence to “cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy any vegetation growing in any hedge or ditch” during the nesting season (beginning on the 1st day of March and ending on the 31st day of August).

treefan

he cut EVERYTHING right down except for 2 50 year old trees.

Im well aware of the need for coppicing and the hedgerow is his responsibility to maintain but he should know the right time to do it and he could have been a bit more selective about what to leave behind!

lilbelter

treefan wrote: »

he cut EVERYTHING right down except for 2 50 year old trees.

Im well aware of the need for coppicing and the hedgerow is his responsibility to maintain but he should know the right time to do it and he could have been a bit more selective about what to leave behind!

Your neughbour is quite possibly in the new AEOS scheme, and according to the size of his farm, this coppicing may have been necessary to receive his payments. Why don't you ask him why he did it? I know if it was me that cut the hedge i'd prefer for my neighbour to ask me why i did it rather than assuming me an idiot.

what happen

thats bad i was told that in a march hedge it is you / neigbour each own half of the trees or sticks.did you not see him cutting hedge or were you at work.i would tell him that i was not happy and i wanted the trees replanted.

lilbelter

what happen wrote: »

thats bad i was told that in a march hedge it is you / neigbour each own half of the trees or sticks.did you not see him cutting hedge or were you at work.i would tell him that i was not happy and i wanted the trees replanted.

What's a march hedge?
I'm just assuming it's the neighbout that owns the hedge, not really sure what ya mean there wh

reilig

what happen wrote: »

thats bad i was told that in a march hedge it is you / neigbour each own half of the trees or sticks.did you not see him cutting hedge or were you at work.i would tell him that i was not happy and i wanted the trees replanted.

If the hedge is on your land then you own it. If its a dividing hedge, then both of you own it. If he owns it and you tell him that you want the trees replanted, he can tell you to F. Off.

what happen

hi lads. treefan said in his opening post that it borders his land so i think it must be a march hedge.if not then treefan can say or do anything about it. but i can not see the aeos sheme telling you to cut down young broadleaves trees.

jeffwode

A march hedge, or wall, or fence is one that forms the boundary or frontier between two properties. The word has the same root as margin. Kavanagh used it in his poem, Epic. "Here is the march along these iron stones."

http://bit.ly/dNNWDE

F.D

I think a lot of why hedge rows were out of control in the first place was the old reps scheme
farmers were told what hedges they could cut and when,
i would imagine that farmer you are on about is no longer in the reps scheme thats is why the hedge has been cut right back, as with many of the ones around my area
you cant have broadleave or any type of trees every few yards its just not practical
from a farming point of view an overgrown or tall hedge row goes thin in the butt and is usless from holding in stock
i know its a shame to have it cut down so much but you will be surprised at how quick it grows back and them maybe agree between you where you would like a few trees left growing and the arrangement could benifit both of you

reilig

The Op hasn't really given us enough information about the location of the hedge nor its ownership. We also have not received enough information about the "broadleaf" trees that he feels were decimated????? The only information that he has given us is that the farmer in question cut everything except for 2 mature trees.

Op, what species were the other trees that the farmer cut down??????
Could they have been whitethorn, Blackthorn or willow that he was required to coppice as part of REPS or AEOS????????

Until we know what species they were, we can only speculate!!

treefan

This hedgerow is a boundary hedgerow but has traditionally been the neigbour's to maintain.

There was plenty of whitethorn/Blackthorn and overgrown briars etc that I have no problem with cutting.

But there was also quite a few ash and other broadleaves that will take an age to regrow.

According to Teagasc,

http://www.wicklow.ie/Apps/WicklowBeta/Publications/Heritage/Routine%20trimming%20of%20hedgerows.pdf


Retain occasional mature trees and saplings, including thorns at irregular
intervals. These flower, produce fruit, provide song-posts, vantage posts,
nest and roosting sites for wildlife, which are absent in the body of a
hedgerow.


While we're at it, most of the cutting wasnt clean cut and have lots of frayed branches:

A clean cut is required. Shattered or frayed branches can lead to decay and
disease and reduce the vigour of the hedgerow.