The council's spraying the weeds why bother?

[Accy cyclist]

The man's out on his quad bike spraying the harmless weeds i see! Every year we have this, I don't know why, some weeds look quite nice but when they die due to the poisoning they go all brown and unsightly. The council doesn't remove them so why are brown dead weeds better than green flowery weeds?

 

[Twinks]

Are they just spraying generally or is it the poisonous ragwort that is being sprayed. It really annoys me locally that they go round spraying willy nilly yet don't do anything about ragwort which is a notifiable weed, spreads like wildfire and is toxic to everything but the cinnabar moth.

 

[snorri]

Weeds hold our country together, look what happens in the Sahara.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Are they just spraying generally or is it the poisonous ragwort that is being sprayed. It really annoys me locally that they go round spraying willy nilly yet don't do anything about ragwort which is a notifiable weed, spreads like wildfire and is toxic to everything but the cinnabar moth.

They spray everything. Last year there were some little white and purple flowers growing where the road joins the kerb. Nice looking they were too, till Mr quad bike sprayed them then 2 days later they were brown and wilted!

 

[Twinks]

At the farm where I keep my horses they spray fanatically every year, failing miserably to have it looking like a bowling green, the result being I still spend hours every summer pulling up ragwort (which it doesn't touch) and every time it rains heavy (which is a lot in Glossop) the rain runs straight off the field and floods the barn and stables. Anyway who decides what is a weed????

 

[nickyboy]

A weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place

Weed flowers and seeds are a vital part of the biodiversity. They encourage insects that other animals eat and provide seeds that are vital to a lot of species in the winter. You only need to look at the sad case of the Turtle Dove to see the impact of getting rid of weeds, hedgerows etc. 95% reduction in population since 1970. We should discourage indiscriminate spraying like this

 

[KneesUp]

A weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place

Weed flowers and seeds are a vital part of the biodiversity. They encourage insects that other animals eat and provide seeds that are vital to a lot of species in the winter. You only need to look at the sad case of the Turtle Dove to see the impact of getting rid of weeds, hedgerows etc. 95% reduction in population since 1970. We should discourage indiscriminate spraying like this

All of the above, and in terms politicians understand: it's a waste of money

 

[Dave 123]

You're right Accy but....

If the weeds being sprayed are in the edges of roads/pavements they will impede drainage and slowly break up the surface of the roads.

Spraying around the edges of grass areas and round trees should be a criminal offence. Lazy gits!

 

[Sara_H]

If it weren't for the dandelions there'd hardly be any flowers in my garden.

 

[ayceejay]

When I worked in a shop a guy would come round twice a year to change the fluorescent tubes, he didn't just change the dead ones but all of them as this was considered cheaper by the establishment - I think the same thing is going on here. To recognize which weeds are noxious and what to kill them with would require someone at a higher pay grade than your man on the quad bike.

 

[summerdays]

I get annoyed when they spray my road, there isn't any footpath outside my garden on my side of the road, so my hedge is the boundary. And it's in a low bank in which I have primroses and geraniums planted. I've seen them spray them, and I want vegetation on the bank to stabilise it so that it doesn't wash mud onto the road

(I've prevented it this year by leaving a car parked outside on the road but it's a bit of an extreme measure and after its sold I won't be able to do that).

 

[Archie_tect]

Are they just spraying generally or is it the poisonous ragwort that is being sprayed. It really annoys me locally that they go round spraying willy nilly yet don't do anything about ragwort which is a notifiable weed, spreads like wildfire and is toxic to everything but the cinnabar moth.

Until we have a cinnabar moth epidemic....

There's a derelict bungalow near the park where I live which has a massive Japanese Knotweed infestation in the back garden... the Council know it's there and haven't done anything about it- [wonders if they have right of access to deal with it even on land they don't own and haven't got rights to enter.... it's only a matter of time before it invades the park...]

 

[summerdays]

Is ragwort, "benweed" a notifiable plant? If so I didn't realise that.

 

[Twinks]

Is ragwort, "benweed" a notifiable plant? If so I didn't realise that.

It always used to be I presumed it still is.

 

[summerdays]

It always used to be I presumed it still is.

Used to grow on my cousin's farm and we'd be given money for pulling some of it up (and to keep us out of other trouble).