Invasive Weeds
OUTCO provide Invasive Weeds services for clients. Invasive weeds such as Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hog Weed, Himalayan Balsam (to name but a few), and other non-native plants pose a significant threat to the UK landscape and its biodiversity and can cause serious damage or harm to people and infrastructure
Invasive Weeds
Invasive weeds such as Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hog Weed, Himalayan Balsam (to name but a few), and other non-native plants pose a significant threat to the UK landscape and its biodiversity and can cause serious damage or harm to people and infrastructure. Treatment requires a strategic approach and could involve a combination of chemical or mechanical methods and preventative measures, depending on the extent of the problem and species.
It is an offence ‘to plant or otherwise encourage’ the growth of invasive plant species listed under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in the wild. With some plants, such as Japanese Knotweed, this includes cutting the plant or roots and disturbing surrounding soil if not correctly managed. Soil within 10m of a stand of Japanese Knotweed can contain its rhizomes and therefore, specific mitigation will be required for any work within 10m of Japanese knotweed. An OUTCO invasive plants survey can identify invasive plant species within the survey area and provide mitigation and control recommendations. With invasive species, eradication is often a challenge; they are, by nature, hard to remove. Usually, mechanical control methods (manually removing the plant) is tried before chemical control is attempted. OUTCO makes sure to collect all plant debris and dispose of it responsibly. This keeps cuttings and seeds from establishing elsewhere. In extreme cases, a targeted application of approved herbicides will be necessary. Stumps of trees, for example, are always be treated with an appropriate herbicide to prevent regrowth. It usually takes repeated applications of herbicides to completely kill larger patches of invasive non-native plants.
Invasive weeds such as Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hog Weed, Himalayan Balsam (to name but a few), and other non-native plants pose a significant threat to the UK landscape and its biodiversity and can cause serious damage or harm to people and infrastructure. Treatment requires a strategic approach and could involve a combination of chemical or mechanical methods and preventative measures, depending on the extent of the problem and species
Invasive Weeds
Invasive plant species, such as Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Giant Hogweed and Rhododendron Ponticum were introduced into the UK as ornamental plants however, because there is no natural predator they spread very quickly. These plants also have the potential to take over large areas of habitat in the wild. This can not only reduce the success of native floral species and in some cases, cause damage and erosion to habitats such as river banks, but it can also be an offence to allow such species to cross over into a neighbouring facilities.
Other Problems
OUTCO provide a full range of grounds services, including vermin, disease and invasive species control. Vermin can include anything from rats through to moles or birds. In many cases, facility managers are not entirely sure what the pest is, but they have one thing in common, a desire to rid themselves of a problem that affects their facility. The potential problems with vermin are far too many to list here, however more common problems for OUTCOs clients include issues with rodents, which carry a micro-organism that causes leptospirosis. Aside from being unsightly, they can pose a health hazard to staff and site visitors.
In keeping vermin, pests and invasive plant species under control OUTCO ensures that clients’ outdoor estates are fully compliant and safe 365 days a year, so that they can concentrate on meeting their own customer needs.
Do you require assistance with invasive weeds control at your estate?
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Other OUTCO Grounds Maintenance Services
OUTCO grass services offer a guaranteed way to keep your grass looking smart, tidy and professional throughout the growing season
OUTCO’s hedge cutting services ensure your hedges are well-maintained and looking great, and also prevent spreading and overgrowth into walkways, ensuring safe, unobstructed passage for pedestrians
OUTCO’s litter picking service includes the removal of all litter and waste from commercial properties, as well as the disposal of all waste in accordance with government legislation
OUTCO provides sweeping and blowing services to keep your facility clean. We help you prevent the accumulation of dirt and debris, and keep your sites clean and safe
OUTCO offers comprehensive tree surveys which include a detailed health and condition assessment and a risk assessment
OUTCO’s tree works teams provide a full range of tree maintenance operations including felling, crown lifting, pollarding, canopy reductions, aerial dismantling, stump grinding and surveys for diseases such as ash dieback
Strimming is an effective way to maintain grass in hard-to-reach grass areas, around tree bases, obstacles or grass banks. After grass cutting, strimming helps to keep edges looking neat and tidy and can also be effective in maintaining large grass brush areas
OUTCO believes in the importance of creating a well-maintained environment. OUTCO uses selective chemical herbicide weed spraying to target specific weed types, or non-specific herbicides for broader control when required
Leaf clearance takes place during the autumn season and includes the clearance, collection and removal of leaf debris from lawns, walkways and car parks. Regular leaf clearance helps to preserve lawns and shrubs from damage caused by excessive leaf coverage and promotes a healthy landscape
OUTCO offers a regular, scheduled bin emptying service that helps to maintain a healthy, clean site and avoids the attraction of pests and vermin. Our hassle-free service empties bins of all sizes and can remove all waste from site
Managing the moss on your site is an ongoing process, especially in areas prone to growth, and is therefore important to keep up with regular moss removal and preventative measures
OUTCO’s landscape installation services create aesthetically pleasing workspaces, through well-maintained buildings and attractively landscaped grounds – vital in creating a positive first impressions by visitors
OUTCO Services
A complete range of award winning winter gritting, snow clearance, winter risk management and specialist de-icing products to keep estates free of snow and ice, ensuring sites remain safe, compliant and operational even through the harshest winter weather.
Our grounds maintenance services keep the grounds of your estates well-managed, tidy and appealing. With our PPM or one-off grounds maintenance services, our outdoor maintenance teams ensure that you have well-managed grounds and communal areas, important for enhancing your consumer and employee experience
Asset maintenance and replacement services for estate infrastructure, keeping your assets fully maintained, operational, and up to specification, 365 days a year come rain or shine. Our reactive outdoor maintenance services ensure that your compliance and health and safety obligations are always kept up to standard.
Our Success Stories
Tesco’s approached retail specialists OUTCO to complete critical car park repairs to its superstore in Brighouse. Following an initial scoping visit in March issues with levels, safety critical areas and drainage were identified. OUTCO produced a full survey of the asset and provided a report outlining the immediate repairs required. Collaborating with our client and supply chain a proposal was put forward to Tesco to complete the works using a Reduced Emissions Asphalt (REA) with added environmental benefits.
Our extensive portfolio includes the Savills retail estate, incorporating Morrisons stores and ten of their associated Fuel Filling Stations, including those in Bradford, Coalville, and Canvey Island. On all we are acutely aware of our customers duty to ensure contractors working on associated Petrol Filling Stations adhere to specified standards.
As part of its offering, OCS provides a winter maintenance service, to selected clients where requested. This helps to ensure their sites remain both safe and operational during periods of heavy snowfall and ice. The company has recently outsourced this work to OUTCO, providing protection for clients against the financial and physical risks of adverse weather
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Working with OUTCO grounds services ensures that outdoor estates are effectively managed throughout the whole year.
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