This section explains:

• your duties under your tenancy agreement to keep your garden tidy
• how we can help you to keep your garden tidy

Your tenancy agreement

It is a condition of your tenancy agreement that you regularly maintain your garden to a standard acceptable to us. If you do not keep your garden tidy, it can annoy your neighbours. It may also be a breach of your tenancy, which could put your home at risk.

Your tenancy agreement says there are two "duties" which you must carry out in respect of maintaining your garden. These are:


Trees

• not to remove any trees within the boundary of the property which are subject to a Tree Preservation Order or are in a Conservation Area.

Gardens

• to keep any garden/land included in the tenancy in a neat and tidy condition. To cut the grass and hedges regularly and to keep the garden/land that is included in the tenancy to a standard that is acceptable to us

Our standards

• Under your tenancy we expect the following:

Grass cutting

Regular mowing is a basic requirement for any lawned area and will ensure that it does not look untidy. Grass needs to be cut regularly during the growing season and kept to a manageable length. A maximum grass length of about 5 cm (approx. 2 inches) is preferable. Domestic lawnmowers will not cope with long grass so it is important you begin cutting while the grass is short.

To keep grass tidy you will need to cut the grass once during March and then every fortnight from April until the middle or end of October.

Hedges

Front hedges should be kept to a maximum height of one metre or to the height of an accompanying fence. Rear hedges can be allowed to grow higher, but it should be remembered that high hedges are more difficult (and more costly) to cut.

The maximum recommended height of a hedge is 1.8 metres (or approx. 6 ft).
Remember that high hedges can cause annoyance and inconvenience to your neighbours.

The timing and frequency of hedge cutting will vary according to the type of hedge and the growing conditions in any particular year.

• The following is recommended:

  • Privet cut three times each year, once in early to mid-June, once in July, and once in August or September.
  • Thorn hedges cut twice each year, once in early to mid-June and once again in September or October.
  • Beech cut once each year in August.

  If you are not sure what type of hedge you have please contact us.

  Hedges adjoining public footpaths or rights of way may need more cutting. No hedge adjoining public footpaths or rights of way can be allowed to encroach on to a footpath and cause a nuisance or inconvenience to anyone using that footpath. This may be a legal requirement.

  The base of any hedge should be kept clean of litter and weeds especially on a footpath where pedestrians may be inconvenienced by a build-up of weeds or grass (by narrowing the available footpath for example).

• Trees

  You are responsible for any trees in your garden: no new trees should be planted without our agreement.

  We can offer advice on the care of individual trees and may be able to offer help if major work is needed on them.

  General tidiness of gardens

  Gardens should be kept clear of rubbish. You are responsible for any fences that you have erected with our permission and you should keep these in good repair. You should not allow weeds, shrubs, etc to encroach on to a neighbour's property. Any shrubs, roses, etc should be kept in a weed free and tidy condition.

  Garden inspections - new tenants
  

  When you move into your new home we will ensure that the garden is in an acceptable condition. Over the first 12 months we will arrange to inspect your garden a minimum of four times.

  This will involve your Housing Management Officer and a member of our Parks and Gardens team. This is to ensure that you are maintaining your garden regularly and to an acceptable standard.

  Garden inspections - existing tenants

  If you are not maintaining your garden to our standards we will inspect it. We will then write telling you what we expect you to do to sort out this breach of tenancy and arrange to re-inspect your garden. If you do not tidy up your garden we may serve a Notice of Seeking Possession on you. This is the first stage in a legal process which could lead to the loss of your home.

  Recycling

  If you collect grass cuttings, hedge clippings or any other green materials they need to be disposed of responsibly. We provide a recycling compound in New Earswick.