Care For Your Area Services are responsible for a host of Grounds Maintenance Services on Parks and Open Space which is owned/adopted by the Council. The range of activities include:
Summer work
Grass cutting
Planting of Summer Bedding
Rose, Flower and Shrub Bed Maintenance
Council House Garden Maintenance (for those residents on the concessionary house garden list)
Participation with Schools and other groups on planting schemes
Preparation for Northumbria in Bloom for the Billingham, Thornaby and Stockton areas
Winter work
Planting of Spring Bedding
Grass edging (we edge 50% of grass verges in the Borough each year)
Cutting back overgrown bushes and vegetation
A significant improvement in the quality of Grounds Maintenance has been made over the last few years and this was illustrated in 2007 when Stockton was announced as Silver Gilt winner for best Town/City in the National Britain in Bloom Finals and the winners of the Gold Award for Northumbria in Bloom. We are proud to announce our invitation for entry into the Communities in Bloom for 2008. This is an annual event hosted by a Canadian Organisation which since it's introduction in 1995 includes an international challenge involving municipalities from the United States, Japan and serveral Euopean Countries including great Britain.
The Awards not only look at the quality of floral areas in the Borough but also concentrates on other elements such as hard landscaping, resident and business participation as well as areas such as environmental initiatives and cleanliness.
Details of the competition have only recently been announced, it is similar to the Britain and Northumbria In Bloom judging this will allow Stockton to celebrate our success on an international level.
We are also able to offer a range of chargeable Horticultural Services (soft landscaping) which includes turfing, seeding, planting and garden design. We are also able to offer specific services in relation to interior planting designs for conferences, seminars and award ceremonies.
Some Facts about the Service:
All areas of grass verge and open space which the Council are responsible for are cut every 10-12 calendar days between March and the end of October each year. However, we are looking to extend cutting into November this year as a result of unseasonal growth.
We also undertake weekly visits to high profile areas which attract a large amount of people - we currently have 30 sites covered as part of this programme which includes areas such as Norton village, Ring Road, The Causeway and Mitchell Avenue.
The planting of floral areas, hanging baskets and tubs tends to be completed in June / July each year and the plants are then maintained and watered until mid to late September when they are removed. The beds are then left until the Spring when the spring flowers are planted in October and November. Some residents do query the removal of spring bedding as they feel that the flowers should be allowed to remain for longer. The reason we do this is because the lifespan of the flowers are carefully timed and they do need to be removed in preparation for the Summer planting later that year.
