Grass and verge cutting

We're responsible for grounds maintenance on most land we own. This includes:

• grass cutting
• weed spraying
• hedge maintenance

This work is done by an external contractor.

Our grass and verge cutting responsibilities

We must keep verges safe and obstruction free - this is particularly important at road junctions, where clear visibility for motorists and pedestrians is vital.

We follow Plantlife's guidance. This means any grass verges we're responsible for and protected verges have:

• a one metre cut in late March
• a full-width cut in September

We also:

• cut public open spaces, church yards and urban verges have ten times per year
• carry out additional cuts on the highway as needed for visibility
• pull ragwort from verges when it's flowering - this usually takes about two weeks
• spray herbicide along all kerb lined roads in the county twice a year - first in March/April, second in August/ September

We are not responsible for:

• maintaining verges on private roads leading to private properties
• the vast majority of roadside hedges - these are usually responsibility of the landowner

Some parish councils manage their own verge cutting:

• Belmesthorpe
• Braunston
• Cottesmore - including public open spaces and the churchyard / cemetery
• Edith Weston
• Empingham 
• Essendine
• Great Casterton
• Ketton
• Langham
• Ryhall - including public open spaces and the churchyard / cemetery
• South Luffenham 

Sites of special scientific interest (SSSI)

Our sites of special scientific interest are given a full-width cut in September.

The Luffenham Health Golf course SSSI verge is approved by Natural England. The grass is cut once (with the cuttings removed) between mid-July and the end of September. This is so there's an average grass height of less than 15cm by the end of October, over at least 70% of the grass area. There may be an additional cut (with cuttings collected) in September or October.

The same schedule applies to the Tolethorpe road verge SSSI.