‘Chemical-free weed management has presented challenges’: London council’s decision to ban glyphosate flops, leads to urban weed jungle

As any gardener who has spent the summer bent over their patio knows, tackling weeds is no easy feat. So spare a thought for the London residents who have been left living in an urban jungle after councillors banned weedkillers and instead encouraged them to “embrace biodiversity”.

Locals in Lambeth, south London, say the area is “starting to look derelict”, with pavements beset by “4ft-high” weeds. Last week the situation on one pavement got so bad that a Liberal Democrat councillor took matters into her own hands, clearing a thorny weed that had grown to “the size of a small child”.

The irate residents are the latest victims of a trend for councils to abolish glyphosate weedkillers — even though scientists are divided as to whether the common herbicide poses a risk to humans. Brighton and Hove made headlines with its own ban in 2019, when it cited research suggesting the chemical harmed bees.

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Irate residents may take heart that the glyphosate-free experiment has not bloomed into success elsewhere. Weed-strewn pavements led Brighton’s Labour-led council to end the ban earlier this year, reintroducing the herbicide to pavements and roads but letting weeds grow in parks and open spaces. North Lanarkshire council and the Isle of Wight council have also resumed using the weedkiller after previously banning it.

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