Less is More – Smart Strategies in Maintaining Urban Green Areas
It may take a little while to recalibrate one’s idea of what ‘beauty’ is in the context of urban green spaces (it certainly did for me) to appreciate the strategy some German cities have deployed in restoring natural habitat. I spent much of my youth in Germany and before establishing a base of operations here in Nuremberg in 2023 would visit at least once a year to see family. If there was one constant over the last 20 plus years, it was the high priority the local governments placed on the development and maintenance of green spaces. So it was noticeable, when in 2022, I observed boulevards and park edges overgrown, and once meticulously manicured festival lawns now knee high in native growth. However, upon closer inspection and research into the WHY of what i was seeing, I discovered the beautiful method behind the seeming ‘madness’.
Nuremberg operates its own infrastructure management company called SÖR. It serves as the single point of contact for all services relating to public space, i.e. streets, paths, squares and green spaces, playgrounds and much more. Since 2018 they’ve transitioned to mowing and planting strategies developed to balance the functional requirements of open spaces against the need for increased biodiversity and habitat for critical plant, animal and pollinator species.
How often SÖR mows an area depends on various factors:
How is the space used? A lawn needs to be mowed more often than the grass verge on the side of the road.
How close is the area to road traffic? To increase road safety, verges are mown three times a year.
Can the area be used as a special biodiversity area? A flower meadow serves as a home for bees, butterflies and other insects. It is mowed as rarely as possible.
SÖR’s urban areas are mown between one to ten times.
- Once or twice: natural areas as a home for insects, meadows on the outskirts of town and median strips.
- Three times: central and shoulder strips on roads
- Four to six times: sunbathing lawns, barbecue and sports areas or areas for events.
- Eight to ten times: historical facilities and football fields
A couple of facts
- SÖR mows 4 million m² of lawns and meadows.
- A quarter is mown less often than twice a year to ensure biodiversity.
- Many areas are mulched, which means the grass clippings are left lying around. This not only saves time and money, but also fertilizes the area straight away.
- The timing of mowing for semi-natural meadows depends on the flowering period of the flowers between April and October.
The above data is provided courtesy of the city of Nuremberg’s online portal. For more information read the full article here.