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Mowing Practices for Open Space and Parks

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The Parks, Recreation, & Open Space (PROS) department manages 1,435 acres of public land, which includes 33 miles of trails. This land is designated into two categories: open space land and park land. Both the open space and parks teams employ various methods to manage vegetation in these areas, one of which is mowing. However, there are slight variations in vegetation and mowing management practices based on if a property is zoned open space or parks.

Mowing practices for open spaces and parks can be broken down six ways:

  1. Open Space Trail Mowing: Mowing along the edge of the trail (ex. Coal Creek Trail, Hillside Open Space)
  2. Parks Native Perimeter Mowing: Mowing along the edge of sidewalks and trails on un-irrigated park property (ex. Powerline Trail, Tyler Walkways)
  3. Open Space Perimeter Mowing: Mowing between select City-owned Open Space property and private property. (ex. Hecla Open Space, North Open Space)
  4. Parks Area Native Mowing: Edge-to-edge mowing of un-irrigated park property (ex. Police Department, Arboretum)
  5. Parks Area Blue Grass Mowing: Edge-to-edge mowing of irrigated turf in parks (ex. Cowboy Park, Owl Park, Heritage Park)
  6. Parks Median Maintenance: Trimming of native grasses on renovated medians (Via Appia, 88th). NOTE: The new medians are a mixture of buffalo grass, blue grama grass, and annual rye grass and are maintained at approximately 6-8" tall.

Please refer to the chart and map below for mowing details and locations for each of these categories.

  Mowing Category Frequency Width Season
1 Open Space Trail Mowing  3+ times / year
depending on growing season		  2'-4'  May-October
2 Parks Native Perimeter Mowing  4-6 times / year  4'-6’ May-October
3 Open Space Perimeter Mowing  2-3 times / year
depending on growing season		 12'-30'
depending on aesthetics and location		 Mid-June & Mid-October
Also tentatively in August depending on the growing season
4 Parks Area Native Mowing  7-9 times / year
(max 14 times)		  edge to edge  May-October
5 Parks Area
Blue Grass Mowing		  1 time / week edge to edge  April-October
 6  Parks Median Maintenance as needed to maintain sight lines at crossovers and to retain height.
Estimated at 4-6 week intervals 		  varies  May-October

 

Click on map to enlarge.

P.O-Map-0723

Other Management Methods:

Additionally, the team employs other management methods, including:

  • Regenerative grazing by cattle (Spring and Fall).
  • Regenerative grazing by goats (Spring and Fall).
  • Mechanical Vegetation Management. For example mowing, trimming, and excavating.
  • Native seed sowing (Spring and Fall).
  • Vegetation bio-control by insects and fungus (Spring).
  • Maintenance of trees and urban forest canopies. For example branch and plot thinning.
  • Solarization of vegetation.

FAQ COMING SOON!

Have a question regarding our mowing practices? Email kcorcelli@louisvilleco.gov