Care
The shrubs are coppiced, pruned back to a basic framework or trimmed during the period November to April. The cutting back of shrubs encroaching onto footpaths and roads is carried out when necessary throughout the year.



Concerns

• I don’t prune my shrubs that hard in my garden?

Landscape shrub planting is not the same as garden planting in that it uses vigorous shrubs that recover quickly from damage in what can be the hostile environment of open space as opposed to the sheltered one of a garden. Pruning is carried out on a much larger scale and for a balance of reasons, not only for containment and aesthetic reasons as in a garden situation but also for prolonging the life and maintaining the diversity of plants as in coppiced woodland.

• I know the shrubs will grow again but what about my security/privacy?

Landscape plantings were never designed to act as a security or privacy barrier but were planted to soften the built environment. Plants are living, ever-changing organisms and consequently do not have the static qualities, such as those of a fence, required for such a purpose.

• Can you cut the shrubs back near my house as they collect dust and I believe they're contributing to my asthma?

If anything the opposite will be true. Air quality can be improved through the use of trees, shrubs, and grass. Leaves filter the air we breathe by removing dust and other particulates. Rain then washes the pollutants to the ground. Leaves absorb carbon dioxide from the air to form carbohydrates that are used in the plant’s structure and function. In this process, leaves also absorb other air pollutants-such as ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide-and give off oxygen.

• Does Milton Keynes Council use Pesticides?

The term "pesticide" is confusing in that it covers both pesticides and herbicides (weed killers). The Parks and Open Spaces section uses herbicides, mainly for weed control in planted beds, since the cost of employing enough staff to do this work by hand would be prohibitive. In certain circumstances, manual forms of weed control are not as effective; many invasive weeds re-grow from underground stems and roots if they are not completely removed.

Parks and Open Spaces uses "contact" and "translocated" herbicides that affect only the plants on which they are applied. The translocated type moves through the weed and will often eradicate it completely in the first application. Contact herbicides as their name suggests will only affect that part of the plant that is touched by the substance. Both translocated and contact herbicides are designed to break up in to their constituent parts on contact with the soil. This significantly reduces the risk of any serious pollution incident occurring.

Translocated and contact herbicides of the type used by Parks and Open Spaces are available over the counter at garden centres and DIY stores for public use. However there is strict legislation in place governing the use of all pesticides in the public domain. Any operative using pesticide must be properly trained and certificated in the use of the substance and the relevant equipment. Parks and Open Spaces specify in their contracts the correct certification of any direct labour or contracted staff engaged in public open space pesticide use.
Parks and Open Spaces do not use any pesticides to control insects, rodents or any other animals.
The Council’s Cleansing department deals with weed killing on hard surfaces.

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