Harrogate Borough Council have said the plastic grass in the Cambridge Street planters, Harrogate, will be removed.
In a statement:
We got things wrong with the artificial grass in the planters on Cambridge Street in Harrogate.
Over the years, we’ve planted numerous varieties of plants in the beds beneath the trees. Sadly, nothing has lasted very long due to the tree’s roots structure soaking-up all the moisture and nutrients in the soil.
Inevitably, this leads to the plants looking rather sorry for themselves and the beds becoming nothing more than a magnet for cigarette butts, empty coffee cups and fast-food packaging.
We looked at using stone or bark but ruled this out because we felt it will be most likely end up being used as an ashtray or thrown around.
The artificial grass was a last resort, and the decision to use it was made with the best intentions, but on reflection it was the wrong one.
It has also detracted from some of the other work we have been doing, such as 5,500 wildflowers on the Stray and the upcoming White Rose Forest project that will see thousands of trees being planted.
We will be removing the ‘grass’ and keeping the planters while we continue to find a better solution.
We hope to have something installed by the end of June that provides a vibrant display of colour all year round.
This will compliment Harrogate’s award-winning floral displays that we take enormous pride in looking after.
Maybe trees are the problem, not enough space, light? Not a gardener but maybe shrubs that grow in shadowed light