Following John Inglesfield posting on excessive strimming Natland News has received the following comments. So far the Not to Strim have it!John wrote:
'There is a strange mania in Natland for "tidying" the roadside verges, the latest example being by the south wall of the churchyard. This verge, already partly destroyed by careless car parking, has been so closely strimmed that it is now largely reduced to bare earth. Cutting back so heavily removes beautiful grasses, which contrast so well with the stone walls, as well as the characteristic flowers - buttercups, dog daisies, cow parsley, meadow cranesbill, nettles (so attractive to butterflies), and so on. One only needs to go further up Helm Lane to see what beautiful roadside verges can look like.
Worst of all is the pernicious (and illegal) practice of spraying verges with weedkiller. The verges, householders need to be reminded, are part of the public highway.'
Comments recieved so far:
Martin and Pat Tetlow said...
It is good to see that in these days of council financial cuts leaving untidy verges that someone takes it upon themselves to help to keep our village tidy by strimming our verges. May he continue to do it.
It is good to see that in these days of council financial cuts leaving untidy verges that someone takes it upon themselves to help to keep our village tidy by strimming our verges. May he continue to do it.
I also commend the public spirited and anonymous members of this community who regularly, without being asked or thanked, keep our village tidy - trimming verges (thus discouraging dog fouling), sweeping footways, clearing the ginnel between Abbey Drive and Wandales Lane of leaves and silt which make it slippery, and of snow in the Winter, cleaning the two bus shelters at the top of Oxenholme Lane, trimming the brambles and nettles along the Sedgwick Road footway, picking up litter. The person who trimmed the verge in question( which is rapidly greening up again) also made a beautiful job of the Church hedge. Natland is more than a village - it's a community. Please let's encourage this positive involvement.
Sarah Roberts said...
Some of the trimming of verges is being done by someone other than the householder. I had hoped to allow wild flowers to establish in the roadside bank along my frontage but in early July it is trimmed by I know not who. I come home to find the deed done - and the trimmings in the gutter so when it rains the water spreads across the road even more than usual. The July trimming has happened for the past three years. Most wild flowers have no chance of self-seeding, shrubby plants have been killed off, and though celandines and spring bulbs survive the greatest winner is the dandelions.
Council contractors do cut some road verges but I am not aware of their doing this on householders' frontages - and it doesn't occur on similar frontages elsewhere in Helm Lane - so any suggestions as to who might be responsible?
- If the verges were full of wild flowers, I might be persuaded to vote to have them left wild. Sadly, however, within the village they are as likely to be full of nettles or with a selection of those little black plastic bags with nasty content. I can't understand the mentality of cleaning up after your dog then dumping the bag for someone else to deal with. Not nice when your strimmer blade hits one.
Judith Robinson said...
I thoroughly agree with John Inglesfield on the question of Strimming and I hope no one acts on the suggestion of strimming the wild flowers on the wonderful verges along the road to Kendal. "Wild flowers do not need to be everywhere"?? But there are few wild flowers in the fields nowadays (they are mostly re-seeded mono-culture rye-grass) and most gardeners remove wild flowers as weeds. The verges are the one area of land where wild flowers can still grow. My late husband, Neil, provided the Council with a long list of the species found growing in the verges of the Natland to Kendal Road and on Helm Lane, which he hoped the Council and villagers would value. Look again next time you go along these roads!
Elspeth Jayne said...
Inspired by the verges which the County Council has left to bloom, attempts are being made in the churchyard to encourage wild flowers in specific areas, too. The Cumbria Wildlife Trust advised that areas could be left to grow and the growth cut and then removed from July onwards. That way the soil would become less fertile and more interesting and rare wild flowers might be able to grow with less competition. Wild flowers should be encouraged!