The City of Louisville uses an Integrated Weed Management Plan (IWMP) to control weeds on properties managed by the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Department.

The IWMP guides weed control on approximately 1,435 acres of land including:

• Parks: Approximately 538 acres of park land including the sports complex, community and neighborhood parks, parkways, greenbelts, cemetery, and facility grounds.
  Learn about Weed Management in Parks >
• Open Space: Approximately 687 acres of Open Space land (not including properties jointly-owned with other municipalities). 
  Learn about Weed Management on Open Space >
• Golf Course: Approximately 210 acres of the Coal Creek Golf Course

Weed Control Methods

An IWMP employs a combination of weed control methods, which improves efficacy and minimizes chemical applications. Control methods include:

	PREVENTION Avoiding disturbance to established desirable vegetation as much as possible, removing seed from clothing and equipment before entering and leaving City properties, monitoring and amending soil, and limiting social trails.
	MECHANICAL CONTROL Physically removing all or parts of weeds using methods such as clipping and mowing. Staff also regularly hand pulls weeds and hosts seasonal volunteer weed pulling events. Learn about volunteer weed pull events >
	BIOLOGICAL CONTROL Using a weed’s natural insect pest to reduce weed populations.
	CULTURAL CONTROL For parks, good turf cultural practices consist of aeration, reseeding, and appropriate levels of fertilization. For Open Space, cultural practices may include revegetation, prescribed burning, and grazing.
	CHEMICAL CONTROL Chemical control involves the use of herbicides to eradicate weeds. By using an integrative weed management program, weed control is more effective and chemical applications are minimized. Herbicides are used differently on Open Space and in Parks. Learn about herbicide use on City-maintained Open Space> Learn about herbicides use in City-maintained Parks >

The use of the herbicides glyphostate & 2, 4-D have been discontinued on all City-maintained Parks, Open Space, & Rights-of-Way

In 2020, The City of Louisville discontinued the use of the herbicides glyphosate and 2,4-D in City-maintained parks and open space, excluding Coal Creek Golf Course. Glyphosate and 2,4-D are synthetic herbicides used to control a variety of weeds. The City made the decision to discontinue using these two herbicides in response to public concerns regarding the use of these chemicals in areas that children, adults, pets, and wildlife frequent. This decision does not apply to privately owned property, City properties that are privately maintained, or jointly owned open space lands. Learn more >