Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming
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Find out when you are permitted to cut and trim hedgerows on or next to land used for agriculture.
Adapted edition
- Document type
- Reference Guide
- Format
- DOCX
- Pages
- 6
- Language
- English
- Version
- 1.0
- Updated
- 2026-09-17
- Category
- Safety & operations
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
Description
Find out when you are permitted to cut and trim hedgerows on or next to land used for agriculture. Consult the original guidance for current legal and operational details.
Contents
- Cutting and trimming rules
- Check if the rules apply to a hedgerow
- Length
- Location
- Exemptions from the rules
- Public and private rights of way
- Hedge-laying and coppicing
- Boundaries of a private garden
- Risks to plant, human or animal health
- Weed or pest infestations
- Work required by a statutory body
- Exemptions when sowing oilseed rape or temporary grass in August
- Notify the RPA before trimming or cutting a hedgerow to sow oil seed rape or temporary grassland
- When you need written permission (derogations) for exemption from the rules
- How to apply for written permission (a derogation)
- Exemptions are limited to the hedgerow management rules
Source and licence
Rural Payments Agency
AttributionRural Payments Agency, ‘Hedgerow management rules: cutting and trimming’ (updated 31 March 2026), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
ChangesNeutral text-only adaptation from the official GOV.UK Content API body: headings, paragraphs, ordered and unordered list items and clickable source-link destinations in an appendix preserved. Images, logos, page design, accessible-format request widgets and linked attachments excluded; normalised whitespace, invisible format marks and typography.
Version history
- v1.017/09/2026