We do the following work as part of our normal activities:
- cut grass verges in spring and summer
- cut hedges between October and February
- spray weeds 3 times: in late spring, mid-summer and late summer to autumn
If you have enquiries about areas not included in the highway network, please contact the following relevant services:
- Parks and Countryside for green spaces outside of the highway network
- Bereavement Services for cemeteries
- Contact Council Housing on 0114 293 0000 for council housing areas
- The relevant housing association for areas owned by housing associations
Grass cutting
Grass cutting on the highway network is carried out by Streets Ahead (Amey Ltd) on behalf of the council. They maintain approximately 2.9 million square meters of grass. This includes grass verges along roads, on traffic islands, central reservations and sight lines.
The grass cutting season starts in April and usually finishes at the end of October but can sometimes extend into November, depending on the weather and the grass growth.
During the spring and summer months the grass is cut around every five weeks. This is determined by the time it takes the grass to grow, based on how dry or wet the weather is.
Delays and changes to the schedule
There can be unavoidable delays to the programme, including:
- adverse weather conditions
- breakdown of machinery
- parked cars preventing access
- build-up of litter in the area to be cut
- longer grass which takes more time to cut
- saturated grass which could cause damage to the verges as well as the machinery
If we're not on track with the programme, we are only likely to be about a week behind. Please be patient and wait for us to catch up rather than submitting additional requests as this slows us down.
Areas of grass we don't cut
We may not cut certain areas of grass each month, for example:
- part of the 20% of verges in suburban areas which are left to grow wild and are cut once a year
- areas located along main roads or in rural grass areas which are left to grow wild and are cut once a year
- located where sight lines have been cut at road junctions, bus stops, pedestrian crossings, blind corners and in areas of high footfall which have been cut for safety reasons
How we deal with litter and other obstacles
Litter on the grass
If the grass is too long, any litter on the grass may be hidden from the operatives who are cutting it. If this is the case, the team will return to collect the litter shortly after the grass has been cut, but not necessarily on the same day.
Trees and street furniture
If there are obstacles in the way, such as trees or benches, the teams will cut the grass around these areas and return to finish the smaller sections with a strimmer shortly after. This ensures no damage is caused to trees or street furniture.
Grass cuttings left on the road, footpath or verge
You may see grass cuttings left on the verge after the team has finished cutting the grass. This can be for the following reasons:
- the operatives cannot walk on higher speed roads to collect cuttings due to the risk from traffic
- parked cars may be restricting access to the area
The team will return to leaf blow as much as they can off the pavements and onto the verge, or to collect these cuttings, although it may not be the same day. If you are concerned about grass cuttings contributing to a blocked drain, you can report this here.
Trees and hedges
Trees and hedges are the responsibility of the person who owns the land. Whilst most roadside trees are maintained by Streets Ahead hedges are not usually our responsibility, although some in rural areas are.
The Highways Act 1980 (section 130) places a duty on us to remove obstructions on the highway. In some cases, if a tree or hedge is growing into the highway, we may write to you and ask that you cut it back. If the landowner fails to do this, then they can be taken to court or we can do the work and bill them. This only happens in rare circumstances when no other approach has been successful.
In some instances, we may need to remove overhanging trees or hedges at short notice without giving prior notice to the landowner. However, we expect that this would only occur where the vegetation poses a safety risk or prevents urgent work being carried out on the highway.
If a tree we own interferes with a phone line or electricity cable you need to contact the relevant utility company. If you have concerns about the safety of the tree, please contact us.
We are not required to remove trees or prune them if complaints are received about falling fruit or bird mess.
Weeds
We aim to keep the following weed free:
- perimeters of buildings
- shrub and rose beds
- the base of hedges that belong to Sheffield Homes
- channels and edges of roads and footpaths
- obstacles in verges and along the bottom of railings
Glyphosate is currently the most efficient product for killing weeds whilst being cost effective and easy to apply.
In August 2021, a decision was taken by the Council’s Co-operative Executive to review and reduce the use of glyphosate on land managed by us in a controlled and targeted way. Since 2020 our usage of glyphosate has reduced and will remain below that level of usage until 2025, during which period we continue to actively pursue ways to reduce it further.
In order to keep the frequency and amount of glyphosate used as low as possible on highway areas, we only spray weeds on a reactive basis once the weed has physically emerged, so we never spray proactively.
Norton Nursery
We provide floral decorations from our Norton Nursery.
It has a reputation for providing high quality flower displays on sponsorship sites or to enhance the look of shops, offices and buildings, including floral towers, baskets and plant troughs.
It also offers a full back up service of watering, feeding and dead plant replacement.
Landscape design
We design shrub and tree planting schemes to complement new buildings or enhance the look of existing sites.
Design schemes are individually tailored and include shrubs that flower at different times of the year, trees, evergreens and plants with varied foliage to provide seasonal interest, grassed areas and hard landscaping.
Please phone Norton Nursery on 0114 274 9654.