Laws On Collecting From Wild,

[swaine]

just wondering if anyone nows the laws on the following,
we all know were allowed to collect/pick fruit, eg raspberry, blackberries, mushrooms etc,
im sure your not allowed to DIG UP and remove raspberry blackberry canes
from the wild (i may stand to be corrected on that)
BUT, what about the following,
TAKING CUTTINGS FROM WILD PLANTS,
reason i ask is there a very unusuall (plum) that grows on a main road not far from my house, its small , round, a little bigger than a damson to my thoughts, its greeny yellow,and has pink flushing, flesh does not adere to stone, and ripens very late november/december,and taste bitter raw, tried seach engines and narrowed it down to possibly shepards bullace,white bullace, and a couple of others but it has differnces across the norms of the ones ive mentioned,
i was thinking of a grafting course this year and was thinking of taking a cutting of the above and cleaning it up, as you can also grow currants/blackberies etc from cuttings, im intrested in the legality of this practice, stewart

[Paul Wagland]

I'd be interested to find this out too stewart.

Just to be on the safe side though, I'd go and take a few cutting before you get an answer!

[Seahorse]

Honestly? Having worked in local govt, I think if you asked outright, you'd be met with someone who had no clue what they were on about but who felt obliged to fill out 1001 forms in triplicate (and possibly blood too!). You would, I hope, recieve a good outcome in the end but the wheels would grind exceedingly slow. Conversely, if you don't point it out, they'll have no idea!

From your previous posts, you're clearly an invaluable guardian of our 'hedgerow heritage' - if I were you, I'd cut, dig and graft whenever and wherever you have the opportunity.

[Flummery]

Digging up is a definite no-no. However, taking a cutting is not damaging to the plant/shrub. It's just a sort of pruning. This should be ok.

[swaine]

as an honest law abilding citizan (most of the time) i will get info on the subject as i think its a little gray area,
but i wont take a cuttings till im legaly allowed to,errr yeah,ha ha weres the sacertures
i mean most fruits were/are sometimes just cleaned up wild stock,
im sure john innes blackberry was a cross of 2 wild blackberrys,
and it was either fantasia or himalayan giant is a unaltered wild found blackberry,
like you guys said if you asked you will be faced with a million and one forms
then someone saying NO at the end of it,(althou on saying that its ok for half of them plum?trees to be bulldozed and distroyed as they have done for a new housing estate) also
when i was out on a wonder the other day in the woods i came across balckberries which have kept there leaves over winter and are stunning emerald green in colour and very glossy,and raspberry canes which i mentioned were12 ft! tall,neither of which ive seen before, i was tempted but resisted, and collected some wild garlic instead, stewart

[veg4681]

Digging up is a definite no-no. However, taking a cutting is not damaging to the plant/shrub. It's just a sort of pruning. This should be ok.

I'm with Flummery. Just a small cutting wouldn't hurt, doing it responsibly. Don't worry too much.

[swaine]

trying to get info a little hard on this subject
your deffinatly not allowed to remove,plants or soil from there habitat.
for any purpose
you are allowed to collect fruit,we knew this,
but on some things your not allowed to do anything including cut,trim,uproot,dig out etc etc the plant,
but only species in danger mentioned on this,no fruits mentioned at all
mostly flowers,lichens, a few mushrooms
also mentions about UPROOTING mushrooms, and theres 5 mushrooms which it mentions that are protected, hedgehog fungus, a certain puffball, also a boletus mushroom (royal boletus) and a couple of others,

[veg4681]

also mentions about UPROOTING mushrooms, and theres 5 mushrooms which it mentions that are protected, hedgehog fungus, a certain puffball, also a boletus mushroom (royal boletus) and a couple of others,

Really I've eaten both puffball and boletus, hope I didn't pick the protected ones .

[yoanbob]

I dont have your answer either but I would be very intrested in what you find out, I'm with the others though, if you are doing it responsibly and the plant isn't protected I would go ahead.
I have been half heartedly trying to find out what the rules are for common land to no avail for a while now so if you come accross anything please pass it on.
Have you thought about contacting the seed people at kew to find out the veriety? they are intressted in any uncatalogued verietys of anything? might be worth a try?

[TonyF]

Why not contact people who will know - try the RHS web site or Common Ground?

[Two_Sheds]

Your greeny yellow fruit with a blush ... sounds like Greengage to me? Plum Trees: FruitExpert

[rustylady]

I remember when we were kids we used to go out and pick bunches of primroses for Mother's Day. Apparently you're not allowed to do this now. I can understand not digging up the plants, but picking the flowers?????

[Flummery]

You lose a season's seeds if you pick the flowers Rustylady. Not a problem if there are huge numbers of plants but primmies are getting scarce these days.

[Two_Sheds]

I guess if all the flower's get picked, they can't then spread their seed and increase themselves?

You aren't supposed to pick English bluebells either. They were all being sold at bootsales apparently. I remember when I lived in Norwich by the riverside walk the daffodils were a sight to see, but selfish people would swoop in and pick every single bloom so there was nothing left for everyone else to look at.

[Oogey]

Hi Guys

Great forums. I was reading this section before I joined up and quickly searched and found a document that contained this link below and made references to the Countryside Act, hope it answers your questions:

For lists of protected plants and guidance on collecting plants visit the Botanical Society of the British Isles’ website, Rare Plant Registers
An informative booklet on wildlife law in Scotland is: Scotland’s Wildlife: The Law and You, published by Scottish Natural Heritage in 1998.

Oogey