Grass cutting

We maintain all Tamworth Borough Council-owned grassed areas, shrub beds, trees and hedges, including the planting of more than 150,000 bulbs every year. We also remove hundreds of tonnes of cuttings through our extensive shrub bed maintenance programme.

Our Street Scene ‘green team’ looks after 22 football pitches, 24 play areas, as well as parks, cemeteries and open spaces across the town.

We cut the majority of the grass and hedges in the borough’s public spaces, although some of this work is undertaken on behalf of Staffordshire County Council. Some highways are maintained by Staffordshire County Council.

Work is carried out on a cyclical basis, dependent on need, usually running from the end of March until October, depending on weather conditions.

Council residents are responsible for mowing their front and back gardens, but we offer an assisted mowing service for elderly or disabled residents.

Please note: We are can only start mowing when the ground is dry. This could be delayed due to heavy rainfall. The mowing route takes just under three weeks to complete, so if a resident is towards the end of a mowing run, they may have to wait until we return to their location.

Grass cutting is generally carried out in line with the following schedule.

Verge mowing

• Grass will be cut every 12-15 working days between 1 April and 31 October
• Perimeter and obstacle growth will be removed every third cut or sprayed at the start of the season
• Naturalised bulb areas will be cut and cuttings removed approximately six weeks after flowering

Recreational grass

• Grass in main park and recreational areas will be cut every 10 working days between March and October

Remaining open spaces

• Informal areas will be cut every 22 working days.

Shrub maintenance

• Shrubs and young trees in residential areas will be pruned and cleared of debris twice per year
• Whip beds in non-residential areas will be thinned out and cleared of debris every three years

Hedge maintenance

• All hedges will be trimmed between September and March following bird-nesting season.

Invasive weeds

There are many types of non-native invasive weeds across the UK. There is no one authority or organisation which has responsibility for widespread control and often this is down to individual landowners.

The Environment Agency may seek to control invasive weeds on land/flood defences it owns or maintains.

If you have a problem with invasive weeds, the Environment Agency has a guide for various species of invasive weeds. See also this guide from Defra on how to deal with Ragwort.