Council "weed" removal

[Sue]

Every year council workers come round and remove "weeds" from pavements.

These "weeds" are wild flowers which as well as brightening up the urban environment attract pollinating insects including bees.

Can someone explain to me what is the purpose of this removal?

The plants do not seem to be causing any kind of obstruction to pedestrians, and they make my walks around the area more pleasant. Or had done.

It seems a bit odd that on the one hand the council are deliberately planting areas of wild flowers (eg on Goose Green, albeit not apparently maintaining them very well) and/or apparently letting previously cultivated areas go wild (eg on Goose Green roundabout) but on the other hand they are paying employees to come round and remove wild flowers.

Why? Am I missing something here?

I came out the other day to find a small pile of flowering  Toadflax and Alkanet outside my house. I was totally bemused until a neighbour told me the reason.

[cookie]

Oh, so that was the council.  Someone ripped some lovely flowering Toadflax from our wall and threw it in the gutter.  I assumed that a child had done it.  How strange?

[Sue]

13 minutes ago, cookie said:

Oh, so that was the council.  Someone ripped some lovely flowering Toadflax from our wall and threw it in the gutter.  I assumed that a child had done it.  How strange?

Yes, at first I assumed that the bin men had taken flowering plants from my front garden while getting at my brown food bin, instead of reaching over the wall.

I was very confused as I couldn't see any obvious gaps.

Surely taking Toadflax from a resident's wall is not part of the council's remit?

What next, are they going to come round and trim hedges in front gardens?

🤬

[LordshipPain]

If weeds are allowed to grow for too long they lift pavements and create obvious tripping hazards. Obviously removing them from your wall and/or garden is unacceptable. 

Edited June 7 by LordshipPain
Was a bit harsh on the commenter.

[Jenijenjen]

They often grow in the angle between wall and pavement which could cause damage to the foundation of the wall and leave the council open to being sued.

[kiera]

I agree that I enjoy seeing the variety of wild flowers growing naturally in the streets and would much prefer that they were not destroyed. (The South London Botanical Institute actually conduct wildflower identification walks on street wild flowers.) However, as the council consider themselves to be responsible for removing these plants, it's better that they now dig them out rather than spraying them with toxic herbicide, as they used to do - a step in the right direction.

[malumbu]

I've got more problems with people paving over their gardens, plastic grass and the like.  Perhaps see what Southwark say on line about managing their pavements.

[Mabaker]

Sue. It's a long journey trying to change the long established mindset that many of us grew up with, namely cultivated flowers are good and wild flowers anywhere other than in the wild are bad. My job as a child was to go round pulling up all the dandelions that dared to invade my Dad's pride and joy of a garden. I still battle with my Mum, trying in vain to convince her of the benefits of so called weeds in her garden. Her neighbours, all of a certain age, are the same. Anyone who doesn't attack any weed with gusto is the subject of Mum's disapproving neighbours. We can only keep trying to convince others of the benefits of these much maligned flowers.

 

[Jenijenjen]

Genuine question- are wild flowers/weeds better for wildlife than cultivated flowers? My cultivated flowers and their seeds attract birds, bees and all kinds of insects, maybe more so than wild flowers.

[Mabaker]

Good question. I think the benefit of some wild flowers is that they appear earlier in the spring and provide nectar for insects coming out of hibernation. Also, natives have evolved with the insects, some of which can only survive with certain native plants. For example, some species of  caterpillars need a specific native plant for their food. Having said that, I've seen lots of pollinators having a field day on some non native flowers. My bees love my verbena bonariensis for example.

[Penguin68]

Generally wild flowers which are indigenous to the UK are more likely to be supporting more wild life than introduced species, more commonly found in gardens, simply because wild life hasn't had time to adapt to it. Although of course many introductions which flower will be supporting pollinators more generally. (This would also be true of native as opposed to introduced tree and scrub species).

And I suspect plants which are flowering over public space, even if rooted on private property, are being removed to stop them setting seed in public space. [Although many might see that as a good thing if the plants have merits of their own]. 

Edited June 7 by Penguin68

[ianr]

Alas, poor Toadflax!  And gentle Alkanet.

Edited June 7 by ianr

[Sue]

15 hours ago, malumbu said:

I've got more problems with people paving over their gardens, plastic grass and the like.  Perhaps see what Southwark say on line about managing their pavements.

True. 

And I'll have a look online.

21 hours ago, LordshipPain said:

If weeds are allowed to grow for too long they lift pavements and create obvious tripping hazards. Obviously removing them from your wall and/or garden is unacceptable. 

Thank you for the explanation.

I have just googled, and that is indeed the case with certain weeds.

I had no idea that this could happen, so thank you.

 

 

The below is apparently all Southwark Council has to say. They don't say why they remove weeds, just that they do, and how.

They've got a lot more to say about Japanese Knotweed, which does indeed cause problems, but which they don't remove!

However I've never noticed any round here.

 

Edited June 8 by Sue

[Penguin68]

49 minutes ago, Sue said:

They've got a lot more to say about Japanese Knotweed, which does indeed cause problems, but which they don't remove!

However I've never noticed any round here.

There was a lot in Camberwell Old Cemetery. 

[malumbu]

Bindweed is my least favourite weed.  Probably another pretty flower like knotweed and Himalayan balsam that were introduced by the Victorians I expect 

[Sue]

39 minutes ago, malumbu said:

Bindweed is my least favourite weed.  Probably another pretty flower like knotweed and Himalayan balsam that were introduced by the Victorians I expect 

I have never noticed bindweed on pavements, but it's an absolute sod on my allotment.

That and couch grass 🤬

Edited June 8 by Sue

[malumbu]

No Himalayan balsam on the pavement either but bindweed is everywhere including parks and cemeteries as well as many domestic gardens

[Sue]

Walking around, it looks to me as if weedkiller has been used, as some weeds have been left in situ but are dead.

However, most of the weeds which have been (apparently)  killed in this way are hardly likely to lift pavements, being things like Shepherd's Purse. They might seed around, but I'm not sure what harm that does.

I would like to know exactly what is the remit of the council workers who are tasked with dealing with weeds in pavements (and in tree pits?).

Things like dandelions which have taproots (but are hard to remove in one piece)  have been left in the pavement,  whereas things like Toadflax (which don't, and are easy to just pull out) have been removed.

[Jenijenjen]

osted 26 minutes ago

•  

"Walking around, it looks to me as if weedkiller has been used, as some weeds have been left in situ but are dead."

 

Perhaps they've died through lack of rain whereas dandelion roots go further down and can reach water?

Edited June 14 by Jenijenjen

[Happyme5]

The council are really backward in their approach to management of grounds etc.  They will cut grass and mow through wild flowers / it seems continue to use pesticides according to some observations posted here.   Whilst having green policies food recycling etc blocking roads installing Bill n Ben flower pots in roads causing all sorts of heavy traffic in certain roads.  And installing new LED lights etc when we have adequate functioning lights already.   The impact on wildlife and quality of life for all is devastating.  

[Sue]

3 hours ago, Jenijenjen said:

osted 26 minutes ago

•  

"Walking around, it looks to me as if weedkiller has been used, as some weeds have been left in situ but are dead."

 

Perhaps they've died through lack of rain whereas dandelion roots go further down and can reach water?

Possibly, but it looks like weedkiller damage rather than natural death. I hope I'm wrong.

[Happyme5]

It wouldn't surprise me at all.   The council used to spray the pavements all the time b4 lockdown.  They are probably doing it again.  

[malumbu]

7 hours ago, Happyme5 said:

The council are really backward in their approach to management of grounds etc.  They will cut grass and mow through wild flowers / it seems continue to use pesticides according to some observations posted here.   Whilst having green policies food recycling etc blocking roads installing Bill n Ben flower pots in roads causing all sorts of heavy traffic in certain roads.  And installing new LED lights etc when we have adequate functioning lights already.   The impact on wildlife and quality of life for all is devastating.  

Hmm, you seem to have an agenda.  I like ait of measured that they have done to promote active travel, improving pedestrian and cyclist safety, whilst improving the streetscape. I avoid making sweeping statements about wildlife management as I don't know enough about their policies, and expect some in Southwark are passionate about what they do. Go along to a relevant local meeting and ask, I doubt if you will change a thing by posting here.

 

[elloriac]

On 14/06/2025 at 12:20, Happyme5 said:

It wouldn't surprise me at all.   The council used to spray the pavements all the time b4 lockdown.  They are probably doing it again.  

They aren't. They are removing them manually, scraping and cutting them out. I've seen them doing it on my road and surrounding roads. I can't imagine that they would have different methods in different parts of East Dulwich.

[Sue]

24 minutes ago, elloriac said:

They aren't. They are removing them manually, scraping and cutting them out. I've seen them doing it on my road and surrounding roads. I can't imagine that they would have different methods in different parts of East Dulwich.

Just as one example, the grass in a least some of  the tree pits in Ulverscroft Road appears to have been sprayed.

If it's not the council who has done it, then I wonder if someone is trying to kill the trees 😭 although I doubt if that would work, as the council have sprayed tree pits in the past (ignoring handwritten notices by my then very young grandchildren asking them not to spray as they had sowed flower seeds there) 🤬

Grass in the pavement nearby appears to have been neither sprayed nor scraped out.

I'm quite confused.

Edited June 16 by Sue