The City of Drummondville intends to go ahead with its pilot project to find alternatives to traditional turf, which it launched last June, and said it has found the initiative has been very well received by the community.
“There is madness! We get several emails from people wanting to know what types of seeds are being used,” notes Roger Leblanc, director of the City of Drummondville’s Department of Environment.
Caroline Lepage / QMI AGENCY
Since June, workers have stopped mowing lawns at certain sites and planted a variety of non-traditional lawns that are undemanding and attractive to pollinating insects.
This innovative way of tending lawns by allowing flowering to flourish with minimal human intervention such as watering, grass clippings, and the use of fertilizers or pesticides is known as “differential management.” In addition to the goal of a better ecological balance, this method requires less maintenance.
Thanks to this pilot project, the city of Drummondville plans to reduce its maintenance costs for municipal lands by 20% by 2025.
“The results are pretty conclusive. It will be a permanent project,” announces the director.
Caroline Lepage / QMI AGENCY
Not messy
On the test areas, especially on the embankments and the road salt corrosion areas, little grass grew this summer. A large number of species such as chicory and wild strawberries, lucerne or spurge have naturally settled here.
“It doesn’t look messy!” assures Mr. Leblanc, who has not received any negative comments from citizens.
He had closely followed the similar initiative recently undertaken in Sherbrooke, where the simple fact of including floral elements on the areas affected by the voluntary mowing ban greatly favored social acceptance.
“On the lawns, clovers in shades of white to pink and the bright yellow bird’s foot shamrock are spectacular in summer,” said Mélanie Dallaire, City of Montreal Public Relations Officer. The metropolis is a pioneer in terms of “differentiated management” in Quebec.
Experiments continue in Drummondville to select the best seed mixes based on location, soil type, or time of year, as the city intends to offer them free to the public within two to three years.
mentality change
According to Roger Leblanc, the goal would be to replace traditional grass in problem areas rather than all residential areas. In addition, there is currently a change in mentality when it comes to the “perfect lawn”, just as 10 years ago the advent of urban vegetable gardens in front of houses caused a lot of ink to flow.
Even so, Drummondville, like other municipalities, still has an annoying statute in effect that forbids property owners from growing grass six inches or more on acreage or vacant land.