More Mowing, Less Mowing

By: Mr. Wilson on March 28, 2011
Lincoln will mow some acres of parkland even less this summer as 8 acres are converted to native grasses. Parks and Recreation is doing both a good thing and a bad thing here. On the one hand, there's no point in mowing areas that don't need it. And putting native grasses in some of those areas (rather than just leaving it to weeds) is a good thing. I would like to see even more land given to native grasses. Large portions along the Boosalis Trail could use it, for example. On the other hand, some areas that should be (and are) mowed aren't mowed often enough. It's awfully hard to play ball or fly a kite when the weeds are up to your kids' knees. When the rains are good, even waiting a week between mowings means that grass can get very long; the City's mowing cycle can be as long as two weeks, if I'm not mistaken. That's fine for some areas and some portions of the year, but as a blanket policy it stinks. I know it adds a substantial amount of complexity to mowing operations, but I would like to see a four-tier mowing program:
  1. Frequent use areas: Mow once per week, unless conditions don't require it;
  2. Low to moderate use areas: Mow once every 10-14 days;
  3. Native grass areas: Mow 1-3 times per year;
  4. "Natural" areas: Never mow.
A rough plan like that sounds great in my head, but I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why it isn't ideal. Another option I haven't seen get much play is asking neighborhood associations to do some mowing in frequent use areas. We should also put on the table the option of having local mowing companies "adopt" parkland. If they keep the land at or above a certain condition, they get to put up a sign. To be fair, all of this chatter is coming from a guy who can't even take care of his own yard. Insert grain of salt here.

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