We apply treatment for weeds throughout the growing season across York, to control weeds growing on public land, including:
- kerbs
- footpaths
- back lanes
Reporting weeds
The weed treatment service is delivered on a planned schedule, so we may not respond to one-off requests for routine weed spraying.
You can still report:
- injurious weeds, such as Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed
- safety-related vegetation issues, such as vegetation blocking visibility, or causing trip hazards
- concerns about private land overgrown with weeds
We do not treat weeds on private property.
Before reporting a concern relating to weeds, you should check how we deal with the treatment of weeds across the city.
Use our eForm to report a concern with weeds on public land.
Report a problem with weeds or moss
How we treat weeds
All areas of the city will be treated as part of the scheduled programme.
We may not respond to weed spraying requests if treatment of the area is part of our planned schedule.
Where accessible, we'll carry out mechanical sweeping after the vegetation has died back, normally around 4 weeks after spraying. This removes dead growth from pavements and channels, helping to improve street cleanliness and prevent new seeds from establishing.
Where and how we treat weeds
Different teams work on different surfaces across the city. We use a combination of:
- ride-on quadbike sprayers for most pavements and roadside channels
- pedestrian teams using handheld or backpack sprayers for narrow, obstructed or difficult to reach hard surfaces
- pedestrian teams treating soft or porous surfaces, such as verges
- estate workers, who treat council housing land separately
- city centre teams, who treat the city centre on foot and with specialist equipment
- mechanical street sweeping, carried out after vegetation has died back, normally at least 4 weeks after spraying
This combined approach ensures all areas are appropriately treated and improves cleanliness by removing decaying vegetation that would otherwise encourage new growth.
There are some “no spray zones” across the city where residents have opted out of weed spraying and are expected to manually remove weeds in their areas.
Products we use
We use a range of products suitable for different surfaces and weed types, including biological alternatives.
We aim to minimise our use of glyphosate wherever possible, and our new integrated approach places greater emphasis on using non‑glyphosate and biological alternatives on suitable surfaces. However, glyphosate remains the most effective and reliable weed‑control option available to us on certain hard surfaces and for tackling more resilient species. For this reason, it will still be used where no other product provides the required level of control.
By combining reduced‑glyphosate use with a wider range of alternative treatments, we are working to balance environmental responsibility with effective citywide vegetation management.
Examples of products we use include:
- glyphosate based products for hard surfaces only
- mixed products, such as glyphosate and Chikara, for soft surfaces
- specialist treatments, such as Icade for Japanese knotweed, Katoun Gold for marestail
- nonchemical de-greening products, such as Enclean or Katoun Gold, for certain hard surfaces
All products are approved for use in the United Kingdom and are used in line with legislation and manufacturer guidance, and staff are fully trained and certified.
What to expect after treatment
Because of how weed treatments work:
- only weeds that are actively growing at the time are affected
- weeds begin to die back within around 10 days, but may take longer depending on weather
- new weeds emerging after treatment will not be affected until the next cycle
- weeds may still be visible while they die back or before mechanical sweeping takes place
Injurious or harmful weeds
We maintain a live list of locations where injurious weeds such as Japanese knotweed or giant hogweed are present.
These are treated through targeted spot treatment, using specialist products.