Grounds maintenance - our commitment to you

Last updated: 13 May 2026

BCH’s partnering contractor, Fylde Council, provides the maintenance of communal green spaces and communal trees on land managed by BCH.

As part of your Tenancy Agreement, if you have a private garden, you must cultivate and look after this. Trees located in private gardens are also your responsibility.

You can find out more about what to expect from the team below:

Communal grassed areas

Litter is to be removed before mowing. All communal grassed areas are to be cut and strimmed fortnightly* between April and September and cuttings are to be blown away from footpaths on to grassed areas.

This task is weather dependent and may change in extreme heat or heavy rain. The Grounds Maintenance Team uses mowers and strimmers, focusing on safety and sustainability. They avoid heavy mowers on wet surfaces so the grass might temporarily grow longer at these times.

_{*Our contractor can't notify customers when unable to service an area but they will return to complete the work when conditions improve.}

Hedges and shrubs

Weed treatment

For the safety of all within your area, please report any trees that look unsafe immediately to the Neighbourhoods Team:

T: 01253 477900 (option 3)

E: asb@bch.co.uk

Making a positive contribution to your neighbourhood

Our Environmental Contracts and Projects Officer works closely with Fylde Council to keep your communal areas clean and well-maintained.

"My name is Steve, I am the Environmental Contracts and Projects Officer for BCH. I lead on the development and procurement of BCH environmental contracts including Grounds Maintenance. I have responsibility for ensuring the effective delivery and day-to-day running of the contracts covering grounds maintenance, block building cleaning, supported housing cleaning, window cleaning, travellers site and any other projects related to neighbourhood management.

I work closely with Fylde Council to ensure that the services are delivered to a high standard, any issues are resolved effectively and to ensure value for money for customers.

Your feedback is important in my role so I can feed this back to Fylde Council and let them know when they do well and discuss amendments in their service if required."

Steve Simmons, BCH Environmental Contracts and Projects Officer

We encourage feedback from our customers to enable us to listen to views and act on them

Green Wardens fill in a survey on a monthly basis, either online, by post or by telephone if required. The survey rates the maintenance of the green spaces where you live using a traffic light system.

Green Wardens provide feedback using the following photo guide - this is for reference only and may vary based on several factors.

Red - no litter collected. Amber - a couple of litter remains. Green - all litter collected — Litter: At time of cut, all litter should be removed

Red - uncut grass. Amber - cut grass that is a little longer than usual. Green - grass cut to a good length — Grass cutting: Grass beds should be cut to look tidy and maintained

Red - edging not cut. Amber - edging cut with some excess left. Green - edging cut to a good length — Grass edging around obstructions: After cutting, should look tidy

Red - grass cuttings on path. Amber - grass cuttings mostly cleared from path. Green - grass cuttings removed from path. — Grass cuttings on paths: After cutting, should be clear of any grass

Red - path full of weeds. Amber - most weeds removed. Green - no weeds — Pathways: After cutting, should be clean and free from weeds

Red - shrub bed filled with weeds. Amber - most weeds removed. Green - clear and tidy shrub bed — Shrubs/bushes: After trimming, should be tidy and cause no obstruction (to comply with wildlife regulations some shrubs and bushes will be maintained during the winter works)

You can be a Green Warden from the comfort of your own home!

View the Explore More links at the bottom of this page for more details.

Schedule of works

The table below shows the number of visits to an area per calendar month, and what works will be completed.

Number of Visits*	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Grass cutting			1	2	2	2	2	2	2	1
Shrub bed maintenance			1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Shrub pruning	1	1								1	1	1
Leaf clearance										1	1	1
Hedge cutting			1						1
Litter collection	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1
Hard surface treatment (weeds & moss)	1			1			1			1

^{*Each task is weather dependent. In extreme weather (too hot or very wet) tasks may change. Our contractor is unable to notify customers of when they are unable to attend an area. However, they will endeavour to complete the work as quickly as possible.}

Assisted Gardening scheme

As a BCH tenant, it is your responsibility to maintain your own garden as per the conditions of your Tenancy Agreement. We understand some of our tenants may find this difficult and therefore provide an Assisted Gardening scheme which is delivered by our Grounds Maintenance contractor.

The scheme provides tenants with a basic maintenance service. It is aimed at tenants who have ongoing poor health and cannot look after their gardens, and who are not able to call on the help of local relatives or friends.

To be eligible for this scheme you must have no other adults in the household who are able to help and be entitled to receive specific state benefits or be certified partially sighted or blind.

If you have any queries about the Grounds Maintenance service or would like to provide your feedback, please contact BCH's Neighbourhoods Team:

T: 01253 477900 (select option 3)

E: asb@bch.co.uk

Works completed over the winter months

Site improvements include:

Planting and pruning of trees on a priority basis
Pruning of bushes and shrub beds
Hedges cut back to a workable height

If you think your area would benefit from additional winter works, please contact us.

Last updated: 13 May 2026

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