When is it OK to cut your hedge in Ilkeston? What the nesting season means, what the law protects, and the best times of year to trim hedges without disturbing birds.
Damaging or destroying an active nest is an offence.
Roughly March to August. The RSPB advises avoiding hedge cutting then.
Late summer to autumn after young have fledged, and late winter.
Blackbirds, robins and wrens often nest in Ilkeston garden hedges.
Any trim in spring starts with a careful look for nests.
Big reductions are best done in winter when the hedge is dormant.
You can trim a garden hedge at any time of year, but it is against the law to damage or destroy an active bird's nest while it is being built or used. The RSPB advises avoiding hedge cutting during the main nesting season, roughly March to August. The safest times for a proper cut are late summer to autumn, after the young have left, and late winter before nesting starts.
In Ilkeston, with its mix of privet, beech, hawthorn and leylandii hedges in gardens from Shipley to Kirk Hallam, blackbirds, robins, wrens and dunnocks often nest in garden hedges. A dense, well-kept hedge is exactly where they like to build.
If a hedge must be trimmed during the nesting season, for safety or to clear a path, it should be checked carefully for nests first, and any section with an active nest left alone until the birds have gone. A light tidy is far less likely to cause harm than a hard cut back.
We plan hedge work around the seasons: the main shaping cut in late summer or autumn, a check before any trimming in spring, and heavier reductions in winter when the hedge is dormant and nests are not being used.
Cutting itself is not, but damaging an active nest is. That is why spring trimming needs care.
The main cut is best in late summer or autumn, with heavy reductions in late winter.
Leave that section alone until the birds have finished nesting and moved on.
Trim it regularly from late summer to autumn. Do not cut back into bare wood, as it will not regrow.
Yes, before any trimming during the spring and summer months.
Yes, Ilkeston, Cotmanhay, Kirk Hallam, Shipley and West Hallam.
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