Regarding the new returfing in front of the National Monument, the Calton Hill Conservation Trust asked the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) to follow normal cutting practice, and cut only one third of the grass, so it remains strong and health. This is the well-known ‘one-third rule’.
The new turf had grown to a height of about 40 to 45 centimetres (cm), so ideally 30 cm should have been left. However this is still relatively high for mowing, so we asked CEC to ensure that at least 20 cm was left.
Unfortunately this morning CEC mowers cut the returfed grass to a height of 5 to 7 cm — removing 85% of the growth instead of the recommended 33%.
The peripheral area also had a lot of white dead-nettles and hedge mustard which volunteers were pulling up by hand. This was also mowed over by the unit — leaving the roots and seeds in the ground.
We will be trying to remedy what was happened. We hope CEC will agreed to our emergency request to apply fertilizer and possibly extra watering if the weather is dry. The next stage will be to remove the cuttings which are still lying on the grass in the photograph above.
