The best cut is the neatest
THE primary cause may well be a wet and mild spring which has encouraged growth of the like rarely seen before, rather than landowner laziness or excessive demands on the hedge-cutting contractors, but the state of many of our roadside hedgerows in the immediate aftermath of the cutting deadline means that people can’t help but take notice.
Hedgerows encroaching into the road are reaching near epidemic proportions. Mini mountains of cuttings are left at the base of hedges, waiting for the next downpour to wash them down the nearest drain.
We need to consider the enthusiasm for pollinator patches, but at their best, they look pretty, not scruffy. Meanwhile we see some of the hedgerows that have been cut looking as though they have mercilessly hacked by machinery, with scalped stalks protruding from a shaved undergrowth. It’s not a good look.
One of the most regular complaints we receive at the Guernsey Press, in passing, rather than formally, is on the state of the island’s roadsides – the weeds which proliferate from pavements or at the base of roadside walls.
It makes Guernsey look scruffy, people say. Yet we seem near-powerless to do anything about it.
Parish douzeniers are out this week inspecting hedges. This is an excellent opportunity for them to show they mean business, enforce the law, and inspire a better-looking Guernsey for the next round of cutting in September.