Grass overgrown

Updates

• Can the grass be cut asap. Grass seeds affecting people with hay fever and ticks attaching to dogs, resulting in a costly vet visit.

  Posted anonymously at 10:35, Monday 20 July 2026

• Join the queue! All over Bath there are green spaces that used to be attractive, well used spaces, welcoming to people, pets and nature, and now we are left with straggly “meadows” that cannot be used by anybody, look absolutely awful and aren’t even good for wildlife. Where I live, next to two now “neglected” greens we used to have woodpeckers every year searching for ants, we’d hear owls calling across the green to each other, there were big swathes of Cardamine pratensis flowers in Spring, deer would emerge from the nearby woods to eat the green grass, people with dogs (and cats often) would amble around the greens taking in the views, large flocks of Redwings came to feed on the short grass under the trees and in late summer huge numbers of Crane Flies would emerge from the short turf (to feed the many bats we used to see). What is out there now is practically a monoculture of allergy-inducing Rye Grass that grows stronger every year because the mowers do not remove the clippings and so the fallen grass enriches the soil each year making the grass grow stronger and out-competing any of the wildflowers. It sickens me to see so much nature gone over just a few short years of this low mowing practice. And people cannot use these spaces any more - like you say in your report - they are now full of ticks, and full of nasty seedheads like Foxtails that can seriously harm dogs. Plus when the grass IS finally cut in June or July it is so stiff and tough that what remains is hard stubble, not pleasant soft green grass. It is impossible to walk on and unpleasant to sit on. People used to bring picnic rugs and sit on the green in front of our house to enjoy the far-reaching views but not any more. It’s such a waste of what was once such a beautiful and nurturing space for so many - people and creatures. Since this low mowing regime started my husband has now developed extreme Hay Fever that only happens whilst he is at home or returning home from work - he has been experiencing this for 10 weeks now. TEN WEEKS! Even though he is taking four times the recommended dose of allergy pills this grass is still making him ill and ruining any spare time he has at home. I am so angry and upset about feeling so powerless about this threat to his health and to our environment here and to the beautiful nature we used to experience all those years ago but now we are going to have to move, after living here for 30 years. Absolutely angry and gutted. Thank you Bath Council for all you have done for us.

  Posted anonymously at 13:18, Monday 20 July 2026