In Dorset, we are very proud of our roadside verge maintenance and are committed to a healthy environment. During the summer months, our roadside verges and green spaces, like picnic areas, all start to grow very rapidly. We have a statutory duty to maintain the road network and above all, to make sure it is safe. So, how do we strike the balance between protecting road users and encouraging wildlife?
We know, from the many residents who tell us, that some people love the wild verges while some would prefer we cut them all back, so they are neat and tidy.
Where we can, we allow rural roadside grasses and wildflowers to grow long and wild, which attracts ‘pollinators’ like bees and butterflies and encourages wild flowers to flourish. There is obviously a cost saving to this method too.
In some places we purposefully plant or sow native wild flower seeds to give the ground a good start, whereas in other places we promote grasses and wildflowers to populate naturally. What looks pretty to the human eye might not look very appealing to a pollinator and equally what we may think of as unsightly weeds – like dandelions and daisies – are perfect for insects.
Urban roads usually receive around six or seven cuts per year. In some places where we have the right machinery we are cutting and collecting the grass clippings. This allows us to cut the verge less frequently and by removing the cuttings, we leave the verge neat and tidy. This helps extend the time between cuts and helps wildflowers to thrive.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and the Environment explains more:
“Our primary duty with regards to roadside verges is one of safety, which we take very seriously. But, we, like many residents can see the benefit of letting the verges grow, where possible. Through our Pollinator Action Plan, we want to actively encourage more bees, butterflies and moths to thrive in Dorset. Our Action Plan also enables us to make significant savings – we save around £93k a year by only cutting rural road verges when needed.
“We also no longer use topsoil when creating new road verges, as the subsoil results in wildflower rich grass which is of greater use to pollinators and costs less to manage. On the Weymouth Relief Road, for example, this method resulted in savings of £2,200 per year in management costs.
Today (18/06/2019) a man on a small tractor was spraying the verges outside my house with Weedkiller… on closer questioning he admitted that it was Roundup containing glyphosate. This is unacceptable, to on one hand state that you are leaving verges to – quote from above ” see the benefit of letting the verges grow, where possible. Through our Pollinator Action Plan, we want to actively encourage more bees, butterflies and moths to thrive in Dorset.” WHY OH WHY ARE YOU SPRAYING SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN PROVEN TO AFFECT POLLINATORS?????
Monsanto, the manufacturers of Roundup, are being sued again and again because that herbicide has been proven to not only harm wildlife but to cause cancer in humans.
Rotherham Council in South Yorkshire have desisted in mowing roadside verges in the Summer, which has resulted in beautifying the environment. At the same time has saved Ratepayers. £25,000 so far
Weeds have taken over the paths and pavements in our road. They used to be sprayed and removed. Should this still be undertaken?
Get out there with a9 hoe if you dont like them
Please let nature have a chance, the wildflower verges and roundabouts looked stunning last year, made all the better knowing that they were providing plenty of food and habitat; at the same time cutting down on the damage.
I am disappointed to see that the relief road roundabout; Littlemoor roundabout and Morrison’s roundabouts are very delayed. A few months ago I saw them being sprayed, was this just a grass killer on the gravel? I hope it wasn’t anything worse?
I wonder if you could go further and encourage schools to make insect houses or simple log piles that could be incorporated into the verges or roundabouts… great for wildlife and great for the kids.
Verges in my parish do not appear to be maintained this frequently. Some local residents replace the scruffy grass with pollinator friendly annual plants. Is this legal?
I live in Uptonand every morning I walk to the shop down Dorder Drive. The road side verges are a disgrce. down one sied of the road the trees and bushes have groweb out onto the road with nettles and shark berry bushes grown out over the pathes. The weeds, grass and the sharp branches of the berry bushes have reduce the path to about 2 feet wide and along with the trees overhanging the path, it is impossible to walk down the path. Mums with kids have to cross the road to be save. Contrary to you clams on your web side that the grass verges are cut 6-7 time a year, the ones in our are at cut twice a year which means we have grass verges 2 feet high in places. I am happy to meet with anyone in authority from the council to show them the mess.
Hello Robert, I will pass this on to our Grounds Maintenance Team for a response. Thanks for raising the issue, Kirstie.
I’m all for supporting the flora and fauna and birds and bees but I don’t think enough is being done on road safety, you have organisations who deal a lot on speeding vehicles, but road safety also includes good visibility and widths of roads, I have to go through lanes and narrow roads in a mini bus on school runs and have noticed the overgrowth on roads which cause vehicles to drive in the middle of the road to prevent losing wing mirrors and scratches which is an accident waiting to happen, so while you are cutting back verges you should also cut back the high hedge rows this won’t harm wild life it could save a few deer, badgers and other animals that stray on the roads as motorists may be able to see and avoid them
I agree also, that pavements should be kept clear. One pavement in our area is lower than the road and has drains which are clogged up with weeds and leaves. Are we to clear those too!
Absolutely .. leave all grassy areas to grow naturally, what is the advantage of continuously mowing them, except in a few circumstances.
I live in the countryside near Dorchester and rarely see a butterfly in recent years, presumably because of the atrocious overuse of pesticides… So sad ?
good for you
So you save 93k a year not cutting verges, that’s great, but how about sorting the kerbs in Verwood where weeds are not being treated or pulled. It looks an eyesore and could be dangerous for anyone with sight problems.
I agree that grasses and wild flowers do look lovely and are good for the environment. But the verges between Ferndown and the Azalea roundabout at West Moors are a disgrace. They are allowed to grow excessively obscuring views around the roundabouts and road names. When they are cut down they are just hacked down leaving uneven and unsightly straw. They then are not cut regularly and are allowed to grow excessively again until they are eventually hacked down again. The, what should be pretty Dorset verges, are an eyesore and no way they are cut 6 or 7 times a year.
This is brilliant. One hundred percent behind your roadside verge strategy. Saw this in the Telegraph and wondered whether this might be the way forward for Dorset also? I’d be very interested to hear your views on the article.
And thank you- so good to hear positive news every now and then!
https://apple.news/An4SGAtoTSqSneMSv_OdIWA
Hi Alan, funny you should mention this. Selling our grass clippings to fuel biomass boilers is something we are looking into right now! We have been in contact with Lincoln to get the lowdown on how they do it as we hope to replicate their methods. Best wishes, Kirstie
Our roads look a mess. Uncared for, weeds everywhere. In my road the kerb and gutters have weeds 2 foot tall. It’s an ugly mess and should be cut down. This is where we park our cars and we have to climb over weeds to enter the cars.
I’m pleased Dorset has a road side verge maintenance plan and that it is being sensitively managed to protect wild flowers, insects, birds and animal habitats However what distresses me the most is that when hedges and verges are cut the awful litter is left!
Would it not be possible to follow on behind with litter collections?
I wonder what impression visitors to Dorset think on being faced with such vast amounts of uncollected litter/ fly tipping etc along our road sides
I think you’re absolutely right and I support the balance you strive for.
Whilst I can understand what you are trying to do and which in some areas will be successful the net result in South Court Avenue has been verges thick with dandelions. It has been a visual embarrassment in this lovely avenue and the seed allowed to blow on the wind into gardens has been a major nuisance.
Dandelions are free flowers along with daisies, buttercups and celandines. I love ’em in my lawn and so do many insects.
Here here Michael. Dorset is basically a rural County
Dandelions are proven to be excellent wildlife attractors…you’re kind of losing the point here.
Thank you for the information about Dorset ‘s policies on grass verges.
Can anyone have missed Rotherham’s pictures all over the internet of wonderfully varied flowering verges? I gather also that the “Bee Bombs” containing the appropriate seed varieties are made in Dorset.
Does the Dorset Council have any plans to use these? For example on the verges along the C13 Higher Shaftesbury Road.
I would like to know, please.
Hi Claire, I’m not sure, but will try and find out from our ecology team about the bee bombs. Kirstie
Just one question. Who makes the decision on the cutting of verges “when needed”? The cutting of the bank outside our houses (Greystones and The Rings – DT11 9DL) has been a constant battle WITH the Council for over 20 years. Before that it was maintained meticulously by the same group of Council workers, usually twice a year. I am sure that the Council has access to more equipment than we do (normal hedge trimmers). The overgrown bank is a danger to us emerging onto the main road and indeed to vehicles driving towards Blandford. I have sent an email ref 1126408 and am currently awaiting a response.
Thanks Brenda, I’ll make sure the grounds team are aware of your comments. Kirstie
All very nice unless you live in a rural area as we do. Our verges are visited once a year usually in mid June but we have a long stretch of verge alongside an unclassified road. This is never cut and other similar verges in the area are skimmed so quickly that only small strip ,roughly one foot wide is cut.
So what is more important people’s lives when you are unable to see when at a cross road or the bees.
It is so difficult to see whether there are cars coming along when turning right or left. Please be sensible about this peoples lives could be at risk because of your decision as to Not cut down the grass etc. I have already mentioned this to Councillor Byron
Hello Josie, Thanks for you comments. As mentioned, we pay particular attention to junctions, known accident hot spots and busy A-roads to maintain visibility and these areas are cut at least six times during the summer.
Your actions are commendable on a nature front and also saving your budget.
Communications like this are welcome and we’ll written.
Unfortunately I’m finding it hard to agree with your article although i would be the first to give power to nature and the pollunators for the most of the roads are looking rough unkept and totally ragid. Some corners and road exits are so overgrown that have become dangerous as you can’t see clearly to exit or enter roads safely. I love wild flowers and nature but all we can see around our roads is overgrown mess that just encourages fly tipping etc. Most verges left to become wild are a councils excuse for saving money. In short we as neighbours are charged more and more in council taxes but have les and less services. Very sad times ☹
Couldn’t agree more. Ferndown, along with most other urban areas looks dreadfully untidy. An expression of austerity no doubt, but the verges, managed as they are is acceptable to a certain degree, but I find the unkempt kerbs with foot high weeds in abudance just a complete mess. Come on Dorset Council, throw a little effort into making our towns a little more uplifting and a pleasant environment to demonstrate some rare visible evidence of tax payers expenditure.
If this is true then why do you cut down the cowslips every year on the verge opposite the lay-by at Woodyates?
Thanks Sandra, I’ll pass this on to our Grounds Team. Kirstie
Surely we must educate the general public that “neat and tidy” is disastrous for our environment except where it could be dangerous.
Encouraging wildflowers to grow, will within a few years restrict the long grasses, allowing the pollination for bees and insects which are so vital for our food chain.
How right you are Ann.The verges this year have been a delight to the eye as well as an encouragement to wildlife.Leave well alone until a late summer cut.Saving money & allowing flowers to seed.Many verges have been full of primroses,cowslips,ox eye daisy,red campion,marjoram & lady’s bedstraw to name some of the commonest.Poppies as well but they only appear on disturbed ground.In Suffolk we had over 100 designated verges rich in flowers that were marked with a post so that a suitable cutting regime could be planned.Our road verges are a haven for wildlife & should be treasured by us all!
Wild verges are a joy to behold, encouraging insects and subsequently small mammals etc and then birds. While enjoying the amazing colours to rival any planted garden you can immerse yourself in the glorious song of the England and marvel at the consummate flying of a kestrel. And that is only on the Portland beach road. What other delights await us elsewhere?
How good it is to see wild orchids in the verges where appropriate verge maintenance has been pursued. Bee orchids and pyramid orchids within two miles of my home in Milborne St Andrew.
you need to cut the verges in the villages a lot more often the lanes are narrow enough as it is its the same every year it comes under health and safty its always the same you dont think about villagers and the nettles we get stung its not on
I was delighted to see the wild flower management in Dorset. We had travelled from West Yorkshire and sadly many roads on the way were not up to the same standard.
In particular, cuttings were often left on the verges smothering new wild flower growth.
So why I wonder does the Council keep cutting the verges on Whetley Road, near Broadwindsor? We just caught the tractor before it cut part of a bank covered in bluebells – it belongs to us not the Council anyway, but gets cut every Spring.
Thanks Simon, I’ll pass that on. Kirstie
I have just returned from hols in Cornwall, (where the biodiversity in the verges and hedgerows is spectacular) to find that yet again the verges in my local rural area have been hacked back, revealing litter, scalped earth, straw and splintered telegraph poles. Where there is no verge, the operator simply turns his blades sideways and has hacked at our hedge, where birds are still nesting.
This is the second year in a row that this has happened, denuding our hedge of foliage and allowing ingress to deer and badgers who have caused significant damage to trees and lawns in the garden.
Can you please advise whether it is legal to
1) cut hedges with a tractor at this time of year and 2) to cut a privately owned hedge which is not obstructing the highway in any way.
And Another Thing! I find that when the verges are cut before the wild flowers have set seed, it seems to give ground to giant nettles which flop over into the lanes forcing pedestrians further out into the roadway than feels safe.
Hi there,
Thanks for your comments, I have passed them on to our Grounds Maintenance Team for a response.
Kirstie
As of today, 7th July, I’ve not heard a peep from anyone in the maintenance team. I asked a couple of questions and would be very grateful to know the answers.
Hello Alison
Sorry about the delay, as you can imagine at this time of year our maintenance teams spend 99% of their time carrying out their maintenance duties and not on their emails. I will chase them today though. Kirstie
The verges are looking fabulous with all the wild flowers and grasses. Most uplifting as you travel around so great for wellbeing too.
Thank you
Could landowners with fields not being used for anything specifically not be encouraged to do likewise. There are fields surrounding Organford Manor that are cut nearly every week.
Well done Dorset! Your roadsides are beautiful where you’ve left them to grow. More counties should follow your example.
Well done Dorset Council! The opportunity to see rare orchids a few metres from the layby heading north on the Weymouth Relief Road is fantastic! Pyrimidal, Early Spotted and Bee orchids all thrive because of your sensitive management techniques!
Well done! The only proviso, which you appear to be addressing, is that of safety eg at road junctions like roundabouts where the view may be obstructed.
What about the roundabouts on the A31 St leonards to Ferndown the grass is so high on the central reservation you can not see over it, and I do not have a particularly low car. Pleas have them cut before there is an accident.
With regards to the verges on the central reservation of the A31. I do not think that is a problem, I drive a Ford and don’t need to see what is going along the other side of the road but I was pleased that the roundabouts were cut (thank you highways) as that is dangerous when the lovely grasses grow too high. I think the idea of wild flowers is great, well done Dorset council.
Here in North Dorset there still seems to be a lot of verge cutting still being done, particularly on the smaller roads and lanes, with the resultant clippings being left in place. And yet, just over the border in Somerset, the verges are left without apparently causing any issues. Has the message been given out clearly to all contractors etc. as to the current Dorset Council Action Plan? A further observation is that, where verges are left longer, it tends to slow down traffic speeds because the roads appear narrower!
Absolutely agree. Thanks for your comment.
Your plan is good.Please use satellite photos to see who is throwing rubbish out of there vehicles,and prosecute all.We can then see flowers. The fines will pay for all of your costs.
Please use modern technology to benefit all off us. Get our Councillors and Members of Parliament involved. Get Councillors to walk along and see how bad it is.
Keith Brooks retired Police Chief Inspector.
Could we also influence a new approach for corners and edges of old churchyards which often contain the legacy seeds from the former hay meadows that were on those sites? Could these be spared from the mower that goes rights up to the edges, please? We lose so many primroses in the spring this way, which are an early food source for pollinators. Likewise, ivy can be left, not cut before it flowers. It is the last plant to flower in the year (in October) and again is a valuable late food source for pollinators.
Angela S
I am very glad Dorset is adopting a wildlife friendly approach to verge maintenance. With so much grassland being ‘improved’ by fertilisers and pesticides, the verges can provide a much needed habitat for our endangered wild-flowers. With reduced labour costs, it is a win-win situation.
The country lanes look beautiful in May, but now we have lush vegetation in June, and there are at least three road signs which cannot be seen by drivers approaching Mosterton. We live on the A3066, it’s vitally important that these signs should be seen. Do I take a pair of shears out with me !
may seem a wonderful idea but visability at junctions is important and you have not even cut these sites . All well and good for insects etc. but drivers need to be able to see at junctions . Also walkers/joggers, horse riders and bikes are lost out in the rural areas in the long verges and if they can not be seen by us drivers an accident is waiting to happen . Not such a good idea when some one gets hurt (all for the sake of saving money) for the so called sake of the insect population . Also fed up with people driving in the middle of the roads around Holt and Gaunts Common due to over grown verges .
We reside in DT6 5EB, with high embankment opposite which has Himalayan Balsam growing. It is a main road, and sorry but too dangerous for me to attempt to remove.
We tried to have this removed previously but always comes down to ownership. You have cut trees from there previously, and on occasions cut verge back, but not recently.
Thought this plant was supposed to be removed by law.
Why has my post been deleted, because I’ve been rather critical as you won’t cut the Himalayan Balsam on high embankment opposite our houses in North Allington, Bridport, but you cut this in late autumn or very early spring. I’d do it myself, but I’d need a ladder sticking into road as well as another person standing in the road to try and slow the traffic, so totally impracticable.
Hello Jon, we didn’t delete your comment but all comments have to go through an approval process because some people think it’s ok to use use offensive language on our posts, which is not acceptable. I have been on leave until today, which is why your comments weren’t approved until today. Thanks, Kirstie
Love the idea of wildflower verges but what is becoming a problem on at least one road I use regularly – Oakley Lane from the Willett Arms junction to the end of Oakley Straight …. the trees/bushes on the side of the road without a footpath have been allowed to encroach by at least a yard over the original road width on the bend and the resulting narrowing of the road makes it a tight squeeze even for cars to pass and impossible if one of the regular buses comes along; sooner or later there is going to be a clash of wing mirrors at least! – Please cut it all back thoroughly – soon!