Grounds maintenance

Our Grounds Maintenance team looks after some green spaces in the district, including cutting shrubs, hedges and weeds. The team also plants and maintains floral displays. 

You can view the grounds maintenance areas we are responsible for on our online mapping service.

Grass cutting

The grass is cut between March to October every four to five weeks to ensure that people can use roads and pavements safely. Although environmental issues are of paramount concern, grass cutting is carried out for highway safety reasons.

The majority of grass is cut under contract for Hampshire County Council on its highway verges. The grass cutting teams cut and trim the grass and then blow back the grass clippings onto the verge as this helps to reduce nutrient loss.

You should contact the relevant parish or town council if you have any issues with grass cutting in the following areas:

• parks
• town centres
• memorial gardens
• sports pitches
• cemeteries
• housing association land

We do not cut grass that is:

• privately owned
• on properties or estates owned by bodies other than the Council
• outside of the Hart District Council boundary

Grass verges planted with naturalised bulbs

The Grounds Maintenance team plants spring flowering bulbs (mostly daffodil and crocus) throughout the district. Most of these bulbs are planted in drifts, providing a beautiful display of colour during the early spring months.

After the blooms have faded, the grass is left uncut to die back naturally, returning energy to the bulb in preparation for flowering again the following year.

This means that the grass in these areas will get longer than in the surrounding areas and will only then be cut in June. This has the added benefit of allowing early flowering wildflowers to flourish in these same areas, boosting the district’s biodiversity.

Shrubs, hedges and weed control

Shrubs and hedges are cut back once a year during the winter.

Hedge cutting does not take place from mid-March to mid-summer due to nesting birds and small mammals, unless there are health and safety reasons, such as obstructed sightlines or risk of harm to pedestrians. An environmental audit will take place where hedges need to be cut back in these instances to make sure that wildlife is not adversely affected.

Any vegetation issues on roads or pavements should be reported to Hampshire County Council:

Report a tree or hedge problem

Any vegetation issues that may affect a right of way on footpaths or bridleways should also be reported to Hampshire County Council:

Report a problem on right of way 

More information on how we manage trees on Council land, can be found on our trees and hedges guide. 

Weed control

We use non-residual herbicide and mulching techniques to control weeds. The chemical used is Roundup Pro, the active ingredient of which is Glyphosate. This is a non-toxic product that does not harm pets or wildlife. All our operatives and contractors are qualified to the National Proficiency Testing Council standard.