Weeds are enjoying the wet weather

Plymouth’s weed population is certainly enjoying all the rain that the city has had over the last few weeks.

The summer weed spraying programme that runs between June and August to keep pavements and roads clear has been set back by several weeks because of all the wet weather.

The Council runs a schedule of ground maintenance and spraying with a strictly regulated pesticide suitable for public areas is a core part of this work.

To make sure the weeds are treated effectively spraying can only be carried out on dry days otherwise the herbicide is washed away. The wet weather has meant that the spraying programme has been delayed by several weeks.

Councillor Brian Vincent, Cabinet Member for Streetscene said: “Weeds love this warm and wet weather which provides them with ideal growing conditions. Our team are trying to tackle the backlog but wet weather means they can’t treat the weeds as the treatments simply won’t work. Our crews are on standby to work – including weekends – as soon as the weather lets them to get the backlog down but we would ask people to bear with us.”

The Council has to keep 1400 km of paths and 870km of roads clear of vegetation and any delay due to bad weather sets the whole schedule behind.

Once the vegetation has been sprayed it takes around two weeks for it to completely die and a further two weeks for the plant to degrade