Can i ask you a question please??

angeldaisy

I was wondering if anyone could answer a question for me please.

My house is bordered on 2 sides by land which is regularly grazed by cows and calves.
I want to plant hedging or similar plants along the border of my garden to screen out the fence, which is post and rail covered with wire mesh.

Is it my responsibility to ensure that the plants are not poisonous to the cattle or is it the farmers responsibility to ensure the cattle can't access them?

Thanks for your help

Bogger77

from experience, of having farmland around the house, in this case, my farm land, something to remember is that if it's poisonous or not, the cattle are going to try eat it. It's not great for your plants. We use an electric fence on the outside of the garden fence to discourage them from eating. But as we can't get adsl on our line, the slight interference on the landline isn't an issue for us.

in short, you should look at steps to stop the animals eating the plants, without regard to them being poisonous or not.

angeldaisy

Thanks for that but I'm not sure if I understand, is it my, the homeowner, or the farmers responsibility to ensure the cows can't eat them?

Bogger77

I can't answer that, cos we're on both sides of the fence!

rangler1

angeldaisy wrote: »

Thanks for that but I'm not sure if I understand, is it my, the homeowner, or the farmers responsibility to ensure the cows can't eat them?

If your poisonous trees grow outside your boundary and the cows eat them, you're responsible for sickening them I'd say.
If they reach in to your property and eat the trees, it's probably his tough luck

Kovu

Hmmm, I don't know the actual legal side of it but the exact same situation happened over the road from here a couple of months back.
Homeowners planted whitethorn all inside their boundary fence, cows came and ate every single bit of them across the fence.
(To be fair, they were on ridiculously bare ground, I'd have been eating the bushes too)
So the cows owners were asked/told to put up a fence to prevent them from reaching over and had to pay damages for new saplings.
Don't know how it would work if they sickened the animals though.

If you know the farmer, maybe you could mention it to him. He might put up a battery fence/white tape up a couple of feet out from your fence.

frazzledhome

If you plant a poisonous tree bounding a field you know to be pasture and don't take steps to be certain that animals can't reach it, you are irresponsible and liable. Common sense

If you are planting a hedge I'd ask farmer to erect electric fence the required distance from saplings.

I however wouldn't depend on anyone else so would ensure that I'd take care of this myself. A sheep fence with barbed wire for top strand would do the job. Once the plants reach the level where cows can eat them they'd be gone woody and not as palatable. The cattle would do a great job at that stage on the hedge at the field side. Symbiotic once established

kerryjack

They are not too manny hedges that poisen cattle. I would be more worried about them eating hedge, horses are the worst culprits but anything hungry will eat a hedge. An electic fence about 5 or 6 feet back from your bondery fence is only job, its the farmers responsibility to keep his cattle back from hefge. Some farmers sold sites and cursed the new owners for the rest of there lives

greysides

My neighbours cattle have just done a great job of trimming back my beech hedge. It's established and not going to be damaged. I don't see why hedging that won't be poisoned can't be chosen. I know I wouldn't want it on my conscience to have caused animals to be poisoned.

angeldaisy

The farmer has a wire about 4 inches from my fence. He's not the type to have a reasonable conversation with either.

I guess what my main worry is that if I inadvertently planted something that would harm the cattle. I certainly wouldn't deliberately harm any living thing. However I wouldn't want to be held responsible if any harm came to the cattle.

_Brian

angeldaisy wrote: »

The farmer has a wire about 4 inches from my fence. He's not the type to have a reasonable conversation with either.

I guess what my main worry is that if I inadvertently planted something that would harm the cattle. I certainly wouldn't deliberately harm any living thing. However I wouldn't want to be held responsible if any harm came to the cattle.

My guess is nobody can give a definitive answer on this one.. So in the absence of being sure my approach would be one of caution, wouldn't it be best to plant something you know isn't harmful to animals..

As for where to plant, if you plant a little inside your boundary the plants will be established before the cattle can reach them..

ganmo

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/php/plants.php?action=display&ispecies=cattle

strange that clover is on that list

buffalobilly

Would you not be better to stay back a metre from your
Boundary as how are you going to maintain the outer side
When it matures

Farmer Pudsey

OP there are very few plants that are totally noxious to cattle. Yew as far as I know is the virtually the only palatable plants taht will kill cattle. The most important point in planting a hedge is to plant hedging taht is easily maintained. Traditional hedges such as Beech laural anf whitethorn are coming bach in fashion as even thought they take 6-10 years to establish they are easily maintained after wards, and native Irish birds can nest in them. As well whitethorn berries are welcome by birds during the winter.

Beech if established will take browsing from cattle who will maintain the far side of the hedge for you. Fast growing evergreens such as leylandii and even esclonia are very hard to maintain. Make sure that cattle cannot access the young plants and use a mixture of traditional hedging plants such as whitehorn, beech, hazel, laural, crabapple wildrose with a mixture of small trees and a few ordamental bushes

kerryjack

buffalobilly wrote: »

Would you not be better to stay back a metre from your
Boundary as how are you going to maintain the outer side
When it matures

Are farmers gone that bad that they would not allow a lad in to cut hedge I am thinking farmer would be delighted to see a hedge there as gives him great screening for work on farms OP put on green wind breaker on fence plant hedge and it will work out fine for both parties

yosemitesam1

ganmo wrote: »

strange that clover is on that list

Sweet clovers different to the normal stuff, grown in the drier parts of us afaik only a problem when the hay is mouldy

buffalobilly

kerryjack wrote: »

Are farmers gone that bad that they would not allow a lad in to cut hedge I am thinking farmer would be delighted to see a hedge there as gives him great screening for work on farms OP put on green wind breaker on fence plant hedge and it will work out fine for both parties

Poster says farmer is not very reasonable so would it not be best to stay within there own boundary

kerryjack

buffalobilly wrote: »

Poster says farmer is not very reasonable so would it not be best to stay within there own boundary

Poster is planting hedge inside his bounary and there is no law to tell him how near or far away he has to be to his boundary if farmer wants to cut hedge in his side of boundary he is in titled to do so poster can let hedge grow outside his bounary if farmer is unreasonable and unwilling to leave him onto his land there is an old saying good hedges make good neighbours

buffalobilly

kerryjack wrote: »

Poster is planting hedge inside his bounary and there is no law to tell him how near or far away he has to be to his boundary if farmer wants to cut hedge in his side of boundary he is in titled to do so poster can let hedge grow outside his bounary if farmer is unreasonable and unwilling to leave him onto his land there is an old saying good hedges make good neighbours

Fair enough point but I don't think poster is entitled to let it grow into other persons property (ie farmer in this case) if it could poison his animals

kerryjack

buffalobilly wrote: »

Fair enough point but I don't think poster is entitled to let it grow into other persons property (ie farmer in this case) if it could poison his animals

He is its up to the farmer to keep cattle back from poison hedge a big poison hedge is not going to grow out over the posters fence over night it could take 5 years so that gives farmer plenty of notice to keep his cattle back

ganmo

kerryjack wrote: »

He is its up to the farmer to keep cattle back from poison hedge a big poison hedge is not going to grow out over the posters fence over night it could take 5 years so that gives farmer plenty of notice to keep his cattle back

It's up to the farmer to keep his stock of of his garden. Anything further than that is being neighbourly

Panch18

kerryjack wrote: »

He is its up to the farmer to keep cattle back from poison hedge a big poison hedge is not going to grow out over the posters fence over night it could take 5 years so that gives farmer plenty of notice to keep his cattle back

You seem to have a very strange outlook on who is responsible for what

both sides have responsibilities in this instance

joejobrien

kerryjack wrote: »

He is its up to the farmer to keep cattle back from poison hedge a big poison hedge is not going to grow out over the posters fence over night it could take 5 years so that gives farmer plenty of notice to keep his cattle back

Farmer is entitle to graze to the boundry line of his field.
As for poison plants, unsure of many apart from yew.
Would one plant a poison tree or leave any harmful substance available for a human to access without neccessary precautions Would a person place his family at risk ?
Therfore one should not allow animals to be harmed hereby advoiding a painful death
Also consider keeping in 6/8ft to allow maintence over the next 30 years or so.

runawaybishop

angeldaisy wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone could answer a question for me please.

My house is bordered on 2 sides by land which is regularly grazed by cows and calves.
I want to plant hedging or similar plants along the border of my garden to screen out the fence, which is post and rail covered with wire mesh.

Is it my responsibility to ensure that the plants are not poisonous to the cattle or is it the farmers responsibility to ensure the cattle can't access them?

Thanks for your help

You need to ensure you are not being negligent. Knowingly planting a poisoness hedge within reach of livestock, where livestock could be reasonably expected to reach it or not protecting livestock from reaching it would be negligent and you could be liable.

That said, most native hedges will be absolutely fine.

Base price

After reading this thread the one thing that comes to mind is how important good neighbourly relations are.
We have a nasty neighbour (farmer) that bounds us one side of a 12 acre field. There is a mearing ditch between us and it is the most heavily fortified fence on the entire farm.
Nothing worse than bad neighbours :mad:
I thought that laurel was toxic

greysides

Base price wrote: »

I thought that laurel was toxic

I have Cherry Laurel on one section of the bounds of my house. The neighbours cattle eat it at times and it has never caused problems. It does contain cyanide though; obviously in small amounts.

Base price

greysides wrote: »

I have Cherry Laurel on one section of the bounds of my house. The neighbours cattle eat it at times and it has never caused problems. It does contain cyanide though; obviously in small amounts.

I remember my Grandfather giving out because a neighbour planted Laurel on his boundary to the road that we used to walk the cows on

Kovu

We have laurel bordering our house at the road and the cattle go mad to eat it when they walk by. Actually that's reminded me, dad trimmed them and threw them into the field. Better get moving those when the meadow is cut!!

Nekarsulm

angeldaisey, as you already have the post and rail complete with wire mesh, would you consider planting Holly? Makes a nice hedge, especially as you can get different colours, and animals don't like eating it.
Disaster if you host children's parties where balloon s are involved however!

Markcheese

Nekarsulm wrote: »

angeldaisey, as you already have the post and rail complete with wire mesh, would you consider planting Holly? Makes a nice hedge, especially as you can get different colours, and animals don't like eating it.
Disaster if you host children's parties where balloon s are involved however!

We have a couple of hollies near the back of the house - you wouldn't walk bare foot -
Half the plants on that danger list grow in most fields or ditches -!
A lot are probably only an issue if there's no grass in the field - you should be fine planting almost anything other than yew - and if you can get a strand of electric wire out on top of the existing fence that should see it well established- without having to deal much with a possibly awkward neighbour - won't have to look out on either in few years

frazzledhome

Nekarsulm wrote: »

angeldaisey, as you already have the post and rail complete with wire mesh, would you consider planting Holly? Makes a nice hedge, especially as you can get different colours, and animals don't like eating it.
Disaster if you host children's parties where balloon s are involved however!

I've p&r and have Privet planted at the windward side. Lovely hedge to grow and you could get your worst enemy to look after it as the harder you trim in its early years the better hedge you'll have