Hedgerow cutting and removal rules: England and Ireland, from the statutes and government guidance

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It covers England and Ireland. The two GOV.UK guidance pages say they apply to England. The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 were read in the text as made, and the revised text on legislation.gov.uk is where later changes sit. Nesting dates for other countries are on the nesting seasons page, and garden high hedges between neighbours are a different law, on the neighbour tree law page.

Where each rule comes from

England: cutting and trimming

The GOV.UK page says a hedgerow is a line of bushes that can include trees, and that trees growing in a hedgerow count as part of it. The cutting rules apply if the hedgerow is more than 20 m long, with gaps of 20 m or less, or is shorter but meets another hedgerow at each end, and if it grows on or next to land used for agriculture. That covers horticulture, fruit and seed growing, dairy farming and breeding or keeping livestock, including horses and ponies, as well as grazing land, nursery grounds and allotments.

The page lists situations where cutting from March 1 to August 31 is permitted without telling the Rural Payments Agency: a hedgerow overhanging a right of way so as to obstruct or endanger users, block the view or block the light from a public lamp; a dead, diseased, damaged or insecurely rooted hedgerow likely to fall onto a highway or footpath; hedge-laying or coppicing from March 1 to April 30; hedgerows within or marking the boundary of a dwelling house's curtilage; serious harm to plant, human or animal health; serious weed or pest infestation; and work by a statutory body such as a utility company. It says a record of the work must be kept so the exemption can be shown, that only the parts needed for the exemption may be cut, and that a notice to the agency each year is needed to cut in August to sow oilseed rape or temporary grass. It says breaking the rules is an offence, and that enforcement can be civil sanctions or prosecution.

England: removal and the 1997 Regulations

The GOV.UK removal page says a countryside hedgerow is protected if it is long enough, in a listed location and, for the importance test, at least 30 years old and meeting at least one criterion. Locations include land used for agriculture or forestry, common land, a village green, a site of special scientific interest and land belonging to the state. A hedgerow in or on the boundary of a private garden is not protected. The importance criteria include marking a parish boundary that existed before 1850, an archaeological feature, an estate boundary from before 1600, a field system from before 1845, protected species and a count of woody species.

The page says a hedgerow may be removed only if it is under 30 years old, or the person is its owner, tenant or manager, or an eligible utility company, and that the local planning authority has 42 days to respond to a written notice. The authority issues either a hedgerow retention notice or a written permission, which gives up to 2 years to remove. The page says no reply within 42 days lets the removal go ahead. An appeal against a retention notice or a replacement notice has to be made within 28 days of the decision letter. The page also says an unlimited fine can follow for breaking the rules. The Regulations as made list their parts as application, important hedgerows, removal, permitted work, offences, replacement, appeals and rights of entry, and regulation 7 sets a fine up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction for removing a hedgerow in breach of regulation 5.

Nesting birds

Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take a wild bird, to take, damage or destroy a nest while it is in use or being built, or to take or destroy an egg. The GOV.UK wild birds page says that in most cases harm can be avoided by timing work to avoid the breeding season, that trimming or cutting trees, bushes, hedges and rough vegetation can affect birds, and that an offence can bring an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison.

Ireland: section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976

The revised text of section 40 makes it an offence to cut, grub, burn or otherwise destroy vegetation on land not cultivated, or vegetation growing in any hedge or ditch, from March 1 to August 31 in any year. Subsection (2) lists exceptions, among them destroying vegetation on or in a hedge or ditch in the ordinary course of agriculture or forestry, works for public health or safety by a Minister or a statutory body, clearance in road or other construction works or site preparation, and work under section 70 of the Roads Act 1993. The exceptions do not cover anything done by burning. Subsection (4) gives a defence where the act was needed to put out or stop a fire, to save life or in another emergency. The enacted text of 1976 gave a different start date, April 15, which the 2000 amendment replaced. The revised text on the Law Reform Commission's revised acts site shows March 1. Its annotations also note that Heritage Act 2018, section 7 restricted the application of section 40 from July 18, 2018 for two years or longer if continued in force, and this page does not cover that.

Contains public sector information published by GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Sources

• GOV.UK, Countryside hedgerow protection: removing hedgerows, read October 9, 2026
• GOV.UK, Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming, read October 9, 2026
• legislation.gov.uk, The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 (as made), read October 9, 2026
• legislation.gov.uk, Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 section 1, read October 9, 2026
• GOV.UK, Wild birds: protection and licences, read October 9, 2026
• Law Reform Commission, Wildlife Act 1976 section 40 (revised), read October 9, 2026
• Irish Statute Book, Wildlife Act 1976 section 40 (as enacted), read October 9, 2026