This toxic threat to our wildflowers

Sir — In understanding the threat to bees, butterflies and the wiping out of wildflowers, I am dismayed by the “lazy man’s attitude” of local authorities and those charged with keeping grass growth along roads and in housing estates safe, neat and aesthetically trimmed.

It is clear that toxic weedkiller is being extensively used along grass margins, at the base of stanchions, posts, and buttresses that support road-traffic warning signs, directional signposts and safety crash barriers on all grades of our roadways.

This attacks our ecosystem and savagely confronts our biodiversity, but it also defeats its prime purpose by leaving ugly swathes of dead vegetation which will be replaced by unsightly weeds and moss. All this can be avoided if time is taken to properly clip this seasonal overgrowth by using eco-friendly methods.

Michael Gannon, Thomas Square, Kilkenny