Maintenance of grassed areas in public open spaces and housing areas is undertaken by our partners, Norse.
Norse also carry out grass cutting on highway verges in the main towns and parishes on behalf of Suffolk County Council.
Grass verges in rural areas are maintained by Suffolk County Council.
Verges alongside the A47 North (from north of the Bascule Bridge in Lowestoft through to Great Yarmouth) trunk road are maintained by Highways England.
The grass cutting season takes place between March and October. The majority of areas are cut on a 4 weekly cycle and we aim to cut the grass across the whole of the district at least 8 times in the season.
There may be some variation to the schedule due to weather and subsequent growth conditions however most areas will receive a 4 weekly cut.
Some areas, such as at sheltered housing schemes and formal parks, receive a small number of additional cuts.
In peak growth season (June/July), it is expected that some grassed areas will become overgrown in between scheduled cuts, especially if there are spells of wet weather.
At this time of year, it may seem as though some grassed areas are being neglected however this is not the case and we are continuing to cut all grass according to the 4 weekly schedule.
There has not been a reduction in the amount of resources provided for grass cutting and additional resources are applied during peak season. However due to the size of the district and the speed of growth in peak season, especially following wet weather, there will always be some areas which become overly long irrespective of resources.
We do not collect grass cuttings (known as arisings) on verges, communal areas or open spaces. When long grass is cut, the arisings can be more visible for a short time however these quickly break down and do not damage the grass growing underneath.
Our district covers a large area and whilst our grounds maintenance teams work hard to cut as much grass as possible, areas may occasionally be missed. If you feel an area of grass has not been cut when nearby areas have, please get in touch.
Wherever the Council has responsibility for maintenance of a churchyard, the grass will be cut 4 times per year. Some churches fund more frequent grass cutting.
Grassed lawn sections in cemeteries are maintained every 2 weeks. In other burial areas within cemeteries, cutting occurs on a monthly basis. There are also areas which are kept as conservation areas, where grass is deliberately left longer to support wildlife.
We feel it is not appropriate to use herbicides on grassed areas around memorials and prefer to maintain the grass through mowing. Occasionally, grass cuttings (arisings) do fall onto memorials and whilst we try to keep this to a minimum, it is sometimes an unavoidable consequence of mowing grass, rather than using herbicides.
Whilst not used within cemeteries, there are locations elsewhere where we do use herbicides e.g. around streetlamps on grass verges. This can reduce the amount of strimming required and allows more time for mowing the verge itself. This can also reduce damage associated with strimming. We only use herbicides which comply with Government legislation and ensure that all operatives are appropriately trained.