Grass Maintenance

Poole has over 300 hectares of grassland to maintain in parks, sports pitches, housing estates, cemeteries and roadside verges.  That's the equivalent to 420 Wembley-sized football pitches.  Additionally there is around 60 kilometres of path edging to complete each year.

General grass cutting is the largest element of all our grounds maintenance work and our grounds maintenance partner, Continental Landscapes Ltd, carries out the majority of this work.  They are responsible for:

• cutting every 12 workable days during cutting season.  This can be as early as February if the weather is good.  Cutting frequency is reduced during drought periods and excludes days rained off.  Reasonable attempts will be made to:
• clear cuttings from paths.
• clear litter when on cutting visit.
• repair minor damage; for example vehicle ruts.

To find out when the grass near you was last cut, you can view the grass maintenance schedules on Continental Landscapes Ltd's website.

As well as general grass cutting they also maintain the following:

• High speed roads such as dual carriageways.  Cutting happens five times a year and can require additional traffic management and mobile traffic works.
• High Amenity Grass.  Includes roundabouts with ornamental bedding or shrub displays and ornamental parks; for example Poole Park.
• Fine Turf.  Limited to putting greens (Sandbanks Gardens and Poole Park) and lawns surrounding floral displays (Poole Park only).
• Rough Grass. Includes banks, sloping areas, grass tracks, informal paths and other miscellaneous areas, which cannot be managed as general grass.
• Wildflower areas / nature conservation areas.  These receive one cut each year, usually in late summer / early autumn once grasses and wildflowers have set seed.
• Edging of paths, pavements and residential roads.  This takes place during the winter when grass cutting is not required.

To keep the Council costs to a minimum (and to help protect the environment), we do not collect grass cuttings or systematically spray weeds.  (Weed spraying may only occur on sports pitches and fine turf areas).