The choisya is yours: garden lover, 84, told to cut it back
A HORTICULTURALIST is in a standoff with her parish council after defying a request to cut back plants outside her home over health and safety concerns.
Becky Curtis, 84, regularly gets admiring comments from neighbours and passers-by impressed by the shrubbery in the front garden of her Grade II listed property in Dedham, Essex.
However, plentiful rain recently has led to the foliage spilling over her 2ft 6in-high wall on to the pavement.
Mrs Curtis, who was born in the 18thcentury home, insisted there was a 3ft gap, enabling people to walk past; but Dedham parish council has ruled that her outsize ballota, acanthus and choisya plants are a potential danger and need to be cut back to clear the footpath.
Mrs Curtis said she had been “taken aback” to receive a letter from the council clerk, Carol Harbach, telling her it had received complaints about vegetation “encroaching on to the pavement” and asking her to cut it back “so as not to obstruct the pavement for pedestrians”.
The longstanding member of Dedham Horticultural Society is resisting the demand and is backed by many villagers. She fears a large-scale pruning will deprive bumblebees of their annual summer feast on the pink flowers of her two giant ballota plants. She said: “Most people seem to think it is very nice.”
The council said in a statement: “We have received a number of complaints by other residents and we don’t ask people unless it is a health and safety matter... we have an obligation to deal with hedges and keep the footpath safe.”