Residents have questioned why council employees are tending to Britain’s bone-dry lawns, parks, and verges in the midst of the lowest rainfall this country has experienced in fifty years.
Local authority employees in Kent, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, the Isle of Wight, Worcestershire, and Hampshire have been photographed using ride-on lawn mowers and strimmers in August, when the grass is “deader than Elvis.” And despite the advise of gardening experts to cut the grass as high as possible or not at all during hot weather.
Locals are also angry by the council’s alleged “waste” of public funds by paying maintenance staff to mow grass that “hasn’t grown” and “doesn’t need doing.”
The announcement comes after swaths of England were declared drought zones last week due to scorching temperatures, and portions of the country have just recently received some rainfall this week. In Wiltshire, Philip Reed captured on film a council employee searching for a place to conduct his duties amidst a landscape of yellow, dead grass.
Experts recommend not mowing brown grass, increasing the height of your cut, or waiting till it rains again.
According to experts on keeping your lawn green during a drought, you must conserve moisture.
And assert that this is impossible if the grass is cut too short.
According to Gardener’s World, a grass with a good root system can tolerate drought conditions.
When the grass goes brown, it appears as though the entire lawn has perished, but it will rebound as soon as the rains return.
If your lawn is still green and actively growing, modifying your mowing schedule can be beneficial. Raise the cutting height and allow the clippings to fall (set your mower to cut the clippings small if possible).
Autumn, when parched lawns begin to re-green, is the ideal time for remedial treatment.
While Lawnsmith states, “Preserving moisture is arguably the most essential aspect of lawn maintenance.” You must cut the grass as high as possible:
Grass is 85 percent water; consequently, eliminating grass removes water.
Long grass creates a barrier between the parched soil and the sun and wind.
Long grass reduces soil evaporation by keeping the soil cool.
Long grass captures more dew when nighttime temperatures are low, providing the lawn a daily drink.
If the directions for the mower permit, mow with the box off. If the mower is adjusted to remove only the top layer of grass, these fine clippings will vanish within 24 hours, returning important moisture to the lawn.
‘WARNING: Leave the box on if weeds are sowing (flowering is not a concern). You must also use sharp blades when mowing to prevent water loss from jagged cuts caused by blunt blades.
Gardener’s World and Lawnmower
He remarked on Twitter on August 4, seemingly in jest, “[The] council strimmer man is fruitlessly searching for something to trim.”
“Lawnmower operator busy mowing dead grass that does not exist.” Man with a leaf blower blowing neither leaves nor anything else. Tomorrow, city employees will empty empty trash cans and open a library with no books.
Someone responded by calling the council’s efforts “dystopian” because there appeared to be no work to be done despite the absence of maintenance employees.
Neil Mcivor, a resident of Stamford, Lincolnshire, criticized the Stamford Town Council on August 10 for not mowing the grass because ‘it’s deader than Elvis’
In response to his Facebook post, someone said, “I believe the heat drives people insane! Include me.’
Someone else joined them and exclaimed, “I can’t believe that. They were also there at Ryhall the other day. I haven’t been out to trim the grass in at least a month, and even then it was difficult to tell if you had done so.
Another person said, “What or who in the world determined that cutting the grass in its current form was a good idea?” A total waste of tax payer dollars.’
Jules Serkin, a radio host, drew the ire of the Canterbury City Council on August 15 when she shared a photo of a worker mowing grass with a lawnmower, despite the fact that the council maintains the worker was removing weeds.
She exclaimed, “Oh, my goodness! The barren land is being mowed and raked. This is absurd and a waste of resources. I am speechless.’
One irate user said, “I have a neighbor who does the same thing and then complains that his grass is dying.”
‘Likewise. They continue to pay their gardener each week to use a gasoline-powered mower and string trimmer on the property. Then, they use a sprinkler to attempt to revive it in the interim. Madness!’
Another observer stated, “The grass resembles the yellow hay seen in 1976. The grass could be left for two to three weeks. Councils enjoy spending money on frivolous activities.
In addition to it making no sense to cut where there is no grass, it makes no sense to cut grass or bushes at all in the new climate normal, according to another Twitter user. The presence of vegetation prevents soil from drying out. Higher vegetation provides protection for lower vegetation.
Additionally, a number of commenters stated that they have witnessed similar occurrences locally, with one stating, “What a complete waste of time and money.” Shocking! The identical scenes are occurring in West Berkshire. They are deploying lawnmowers across this [arid ground]. Why can’t the contractors be used to water street trees or something?’
A spokesperson for Canterbury Borough Council told MailOnline: ‘Last week’s work on Tankerton Slopes was limited to managing the continuous growth of weeds, which continues regardless of the weather due to their increased resilience. Certain species thrive in these conditions, and we wish to maintain these places to the highest possible degree.
‘However, in recent weeks there has been relatively little grass upkeep in comparison to the typical timetable, for obvious reasons. The staff has been reassigned to other relevant grounds maintenance tasks, such as the removal of fly tips.
Our landscaping maintenance is reviewed frequently and adjusted according to the weather. And for the record, it is not based on the prevalent Twitter opinion at the time.’ On August 10, Adam Shaker also criticized Redditch Borough Council, which “was doing the same thing this week, but with children and dogs running around.” [It’s] bonkers’.
However, another user soon responded: “When do you believe they will cut the grass? In the wee hours of the morning?’
Then, another user said, “There is no grass to cut, and in a drought it should be kept longer to preserve moisture, yet it hasn’t grown!”
Someone else stated: “The point is that it does not need to be chopped, and if you do, it will become brown.”
Redditch Borough Council’s spokesperson told MailOnline, “Our employees are trained on health and safety and equipment use.”
The grass in the play area would not be trimmed with a huge machine, and the worker would conduct a visual inspection of the site to ensure that the task can be performed safely.
Tina Tyler, while in Gosport, uploaded images of workers mowing the lawns of council properties on her Facebook page on August 4.
She asked, “Is it I? Why is the municipality cutting dead grass? Since the grass hasn’t grown in over a month, they’re only stirring up dust.
She was joined by another outraged citizen, who exclaimed, “The grass has already returned to its roots, and the new trees will perish; what a waste!” A few years back, after several days of extremely heavy rainfall, the city watered Foster Gardens. Again, no sense at all.’
Someone else stated, “It’s not the workers’ fault.” They are provided a timetable of their obligations! As usual, the office workers who seldom visit the gardens choose the gardeners’ workload.
A photograph depicting grass cutting on the Isle of Wight and dust in the vicinity was also shared.
A representative for Island Roads stated, “We always employ a common sense approach to grass mowing and only do so when necessary.”
“According to our reading of this photograph, the mower has largely completed the cutting of this area, and the longer grass visible closest to the wall and the property entry – which indicates the amount of growth existent previous to cutting – was cut by the strimmer crew following behind.
“Although we acknowledge that grass is not growing uniformly in all areas and that the longer grass on these rural verges is suffering from the dry conditions, we believe that our timely cutting will help the grass recover when the much-needed rain arrives, and there is no doubt that this helps keep the rural areas of our beautiful island looking great for our summer visitors.”