Time to rethink mowing of roadside verges to protect wildflowers – Yorkshire Post letters

FOLLOWING the letter from K Umpleby (The Yorkshire Post, June 8), I, too, am appalled at the mowing down of roadside verges at this time of year. Many areas which are filled with blooming wildflowers are decimated completely.

Previous Yorkshire Post letters

At a time when many insects are in major decline and Leeds City Council has declared a ‘climate emergency’, it seems shortsighted at best to continue with such a widespread, destructive policy, presumably carried out in the interests of tidiness.

We are in dire need of a major rethink in this area.

From: Brian H Sheridan, Lodge Moor, Sheffield.

I WAS interested in K Umpleby’s sensible remarks on the effect on wildlife of cutting grass verges. I would be quite happy if the verges outside my property were left alone.

However, like some of my neighbours, I have taken to cutting them myself before the municipality’s handiwork leaves them an unsightly mess. I believe they would be better occupied focusing on spots where vegetation affects visibility for motorists at road junctions.

It is also a good idea to leave annual hedge cutting until late summer after the nesting 
season.