Madam, - Driving through the countryside at this time of the year, enjoying the exuberance of the early summer growth, one is visually assaulted by hedgerows of burnt yellow or wilting herbiage - hedgerow maintenance by Roundup. I find it positively hurtful to my soul, and goodness knows what it is doing to the wild flowers.
One thing is sure, though: the weedkiller has very little effect on tougher weeds such as bramble, thistle, dock, nettle, cleavers, etc, which all come bounding back minus the competition from wild flowers and grasses.
What do our tourists think of this lazy-man maintenance? It's green they come to see, not burned yellow. The sooner it's made illegal the better. (And farmers, I'm not a townie; I work on the land myself.) - Yours, etc,
NEIL MACLEAN,
Castle Street,
Carrick on Suir,
Co Tipperary.