Mowing madness! Council workers strim and tend to Britain’s BARE and bone dry lawns, parks and verges – cutting grass that’s ‘deader than Elvis’ despite advice to mow it as high as possible in hot weather
- Kent, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, Hampshire councils have drawn ire from residents
- Locals have questioned why they have seen workers mowing and strimming
- UK is currently suffering its lowest rainfall for 50 years and a drought in parts
- Gardening experts say that you should mow as high as possible in drought
- Or do not cut back the grass at all as it keeps in the moisture in hot weather
Furious residents have questioned why council workers are out tending Britain’s bare and bone dry lawns, parks and verges amid the lowest rainfall seen in this country in 50 years.
Local authorities in Kent, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, the Isle of Wight, Worcestershire, and Hampshire have been carrying on using lawn mowers and strimmers in August when the grass is ‘deader than Elvis’ in a ‘bonkers’ move.
And despite advice from gardening experts to mow it as high as possible in hot weather or not cut it at all.
The news comes after swathes of England were made drought zones last week amid scorching temperatures and the country only just recently is seeing some showers this week in parts.
Canterbury City Council received fury from radio presenter Jules Serkin who posted a picture on August 15 of a worker on a lawnmower in what she claims was them cutting grass, but what the council says is weed removal
Adam Shaker also criticised Redditch Borough Council on August 10, who ‘was doing the same thing this week – but in the middle of the day with kids and dogs running around. [It’s] bonkers’
This picture also shows grass cutting on the Isle of Wight in what appears to be yellow dying grass
Stamford Town Council also drew the ire of Neil Mcivor, from Lincolnshire, who said the council was making ‘ dust not cutting grass’ when ‘it’s deader than Elvis’ on August 10
In Wiltshire, Philip Reed videoed a council worker wondering around an estate looking for somewhere to do his work as the surrounding area looked full of yellow dead grass
In Wiltshire, Philip Reed videoed a council worker wondering around an estate looking for somewhere to do his work as the surrounding area looked full of yellow dead grass.
Don’t mow your grass if it turns brown, raise the height of your cut, or wait till it rains again, experts say
Experts on keeping your grass green when there is drought maintain that you need to preserve the moisture.
And claim this is not possible if you are cutting the grass back too far.
According to Gardener’s World: ‘An established lawn, with a healthy root system, will withstand periods of drought.
‘When grass turns brown it looks like the whole lawn has died, but it will recover once rains return.
‘If your lawn is still green and in active growth, adjusting your mowing regime can help. Raise the height of cut and let clippings fall (set your mower to cut the clippings small if possible).
‘Autumn, when parched lawns start to green up again, is the time for restorative maintenance.’
While Lawnsmith says: ‘Perhaps the most important lawn care duty to preserve moisture. You need to mow as high as possible:
- Grass is 85% water – removing grass therefore removes water
- Long grass creates a barrier between dry sun and wind and moist soil
- Long grass keeps the soil cool thus reducing evaporation
- Long grass traps more dew when there are low night time temperatures giving the lawn a daily drink
‘If the mower instructions allow mow with the box off. If you have set the mower to just take the top off then these fine clippings will disappear in 24 hours returning valuable moisture to the lawn.
‘CAUTION: If weeds are seeding (flowering is not a problem) then best keep the box on. You also need to mow with sharp blades to minimise loss of water through jagged cuts with blunt blades.’
He wrote on Twitter on August 4, in what appeared to be gest: ‘[The] council strimmer man [is] vainly looking for something to strim.
‘Ride-on lawnmower man busy mowing non-existent dead grass. Leaf-blower man blowing no leaves, or anything else. Tomorrow, council workers emptying empty bins, and opening a library with no books.’
In reply someone called the council’s work ‘dystopian’ as it appeared to show nowhere for any work to be done despite maintenance workers being out.
Stamford Town Council also drew the ire of Neil Mcivor, from Stamford, Lincolnshire, who said the council was making ‘dust not cutting grass’ when ‘it’s deader than Elvis’ on August 10.
In reply to his post on Facebook, someone wrote: ‘I think the heat drives people crazy ! Me included.’
They were joined by someone else who said: ‘I can’t believe it. We had them in Ryhall the other day too. I haven’t been out to cut grass for at a month and even then it was hard to know if you had cut it or not.’
Another user said: ‘What or who on earth decided that cutting the grass in the state it’s in is a good thing. A complete waste of rate payers money.’
Canterbury City Council also received fury from radio presenter Jules Serkin who posted a picture on August 15 of a worker on a lawnmower in what she claims was them cutting grass, but what the council says is weed removal.
She said: ‘Oh my goodness ! They are mowing and strimming the bare ground. This is bonkers and a waste of money? I am speechless.’
One angry commenter wrote: ‘Its not just the councils, I have a neighbour that does the same and then tells me his grass is dying.’
‘Mine too. They’re still paying their gardener to come and use a petrol mower and strimmer on it every week! Then they’re using a sprinkler on it to try and revive it in between. Madness!’
Another person said: ‘Looks like the yellow hay like grass seen during 1976. They could leave that grass 2-3 weeks. Councils love spending money on wasteful exercises.’
Someone else also replied on Twitter, saying: ‘Apart from making no sense to cut where there’s no grass, it is utter nonsense to cut grass or bush at all in the new climate normal. Vegetation protects the ground from drying out. Higher vegetation protects lower vegetation.’
More also explained how they were seeing similar scenes locally by councils, with one posting: ‘What a total waste of time and money. Shocking! [We are seeing the] same scenes in West Berkshire. They are sending mowers over this [dry ground]. Why can’t they use the contractors to water street trees or something instead?’
A spokesman for Canterbury Borough Council said: ‘The work seen on Tankerton Slopes last week was limited to only tackling continued weed growth, which carries on regardless of the warm weather due to their greater resilience. Certain types thrive in these conditions and we want to keep these areas to as high a standard as we can.
‘In general, however, there has been very little grass maintenance in recent weeks, and nothing like the usual schedule, for obvious reasons. Staff have been diverted to other appropriate grounds maintenance activities such as clearing fly tips.
‘Our grounds maintenance work is kept under regular review and is adapted for the weather conditions. And for the record, it’s certainly not based on the prevailing view on Twitter at the time.’
Edmund Takacs also criticised his local council for cutting dying grass
While in Gosport, Tina Tyler, wrote as she posted photos on Facebook on August 4 of workers mowing council houses’ lawns
Another user also complained about their neighbour using a robot to cut their grass
Adam Shaker also criticised Redditch Borough Council on August 10, who ‘was doing the same thing this week – but in the middle of the day with kids and dogs running around. [It’s] bonkers’.
But another user quickly replied: ‘When do you think they are going to cut the grass? In the middle of the night?’
Another user then wrote: ‘There is no grass to cut and in a drought it needs to be keep longer to retain moisture, but it hasn’t grown anyway!’
Someone else said: ‘The point is it doesn’t need cutting and if you do cut it short it will go brown.’
A spokeswoman for Redditch Borough Council said: ‘Our operatives are trained in health and safety and equipment use.
‘The grass within the play area would not be cut by a large machine and the operative would make a visual assessment of the site to ensure that the work can be carried out safely.’
While in Gosport, Tina Tyler, wrote as she posted a photos on Facebook on August 4 of workers mowing council houses’ lawns.
She said: ‘Is it me? Why are the council mowing the dead grass? They’re just kicking up dust as the grass hasn’t grown for over a month.’
She was joined by another furious resident, who said: ‘The grass has already gone back into its roots, the new trees will die and what a waste that will be. I remember a few years ago, we’d had a few days of really heavy rain and the council were watering Foster Gardens. Again, no sense at all.’
Another person said: ‘No the workers fault. They’re given a schedule of what they have to do! As usual it’s the people in the office who never see the gardens who govern the gardeners workload.’
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