Roadside grass cutting, weeds and overgrown hedges or trees
Our priority is to maintain the safety of public roads by keeping vegetation from causing obstructions or threatening the safety of road users. Find out more about:
Roadside verges
We maintain approximately 10,000 kilometers of rural roadside verges, along with the verges in urban areas. Most maintenance is managed by our Landscape team and carried out by contractors. They are cut once a year, normally during late June or early July.
It is an offence under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to drive on a roadside verge. Appropriate passing places should be used to avoid damage to the verge, and to vehicles as many hazards can be hidden under vegetation such as offlets, ditches, manhole covers or rocks.
You can report a verge damage or cutting issue using our road fault reporting form.
Hedges and weeds
Maintenance of roadside hedges and weed killing is managed by our Landscape service and carried out by contractors. Weed killing is carried out twice a year in housing developments, usually in early June and in late August. Hedges are cut once a year during the winter.
Roadside trees
We don't own or maintain roadside trees. If a tree is causing an obstruction or hazard the owner must be contacted to take action. If it is not feasible to wait for the owner to take action, then the council may do the appropriate work and recover the costs from the owner.