In message ,
Rusty_Hinge writes
The message
from robert contains these words:

Agreed. There are some plants listed in Schedule 8 of the Wildlife &
Countryside Act 1981 which are protected under Section 13 of the Act in
that they may not be picked or destroyed. It also states that all wild
plants may not be uprooted but, from memory it does not define 'wild'.

And that leaves farmers where?

Does my neighbour risk prosecution for cleaning out his ditches and
uprooting reedmace, lady's smock, primroses, meadowsweet and cowslips,
not to mention grass and chickweed?

As a farmer your neighbour will know that he is safe unless his/her land
is under an agri-environment scheme with management requirements that
stipulate that the ditch or other land is managed in a particular
manner.

Restrictions tend to apply to the use of herbicides rather than
manual/mechanical uprooting of plants and even management for the
creation or restoration of species rich semi-natural grassland allows
for scrub control where uncontrolled growth would impact on the natural
regeneration of grasses and wildflower plants that are native to the
area.

--
Robert