I have a leylandii hedge - yes, I know, but the birds love it! It's very much in need of cutting but will the birds be nesting in it by now? If so, when will it next be safe to cut it?
Hi
Just keep eye on your hedge...if there is signs of birds going in and out =nesting..leave it until about end of May...first chicks should have gone by then..
if there is no signs of nesting do it quite soon..
Safest time from the birds point of view is winter or very early spring..I prefer later one...as it is good to leave shelter for the little ones during cold winter months..
Thanks. We certainly have a blackbird couple in the garden, so will keep an eye out to see where they go. No chance of getting OH out to cut it in this weather anyway! :D
We have a hedge on the allotments and were told that it is not legal to cut it when birds and others things could be nesting so we have to get it done between November and January.
I am not sure if the person advising us was correct about the legal side but we always cut it at that time now because it seems like good sense.
Every time my OH goes out to cut it, it starts raining, so hopefully doing it a bit at a time will cause less disturbance!
:-\ Just had this very tricky situation to deal with... My mother has a leylandii tree/hedge that has rather overtaken in her garden which is situated by a shared drive. Mum has received a lot of complaints regarding this leylandii tree, such as other residents not being able to see to get their cars out of their drive and it actually resulted into someone backing into my sons car which was parked at my Mums at the time. Mum has also had an official complaint from the site owner of the park home site where my Mum and I live...... and because he is someone not to be messed with we have unfortunately had no choice to cut the leylandii back, even at this time of the year (nesting time) ....
My OH has had the last two weeks off work for a rest!! (fat chance!!) and we have now tackled my Mums tree and to our horror whilst cutting said tree came across a blackbirds nest..... My OH very carefully moved it to one side (had no choice!) and between us we worked as fast as we could to get this tree cut back whilst in the background the female blackbird was becoming very distressed, which in turn distressed both my OH and I... Once the job was done, my OH moved the nest back and made sure the nest had plenty of cover and thankfully the female blackbird went back to the nest and is still there now a couple of days later. Obviously the situation could be very different and it would have really upset us both if that had been the case..... so chances are there will be a nest in the leylandii hedge caroline7758 so would avoid cutting the hedge (if you can) for a little longer yet and take the advice of goodlife and cut at about the end of May when any possible chicks should have gone..... Only wish we had, had that choice and could have left my Mum's leylandii until the end of May......
(http://www.wildlife-gardening.org.uk/features/WildlifeTrusts/_0412-december-2004/blackbird.jpg)
Thanks for the warning,aromatic.Think we'll leave it alone for now- it's had a neaten and looks a lot better, and the pair of blackbirds have been around a lot today, but not seeming to be in any distress so hopefully all is well.