My city chops down tall grass in these unusable empty fields by the walking trail a couple times a year. WHY? it’s so beautiful and I can imagine the little habitats they’re destroying :(
My city chops down tall grass in these unusable empty fields by the walking trail a couple times a year. WHY? it’s so beautiful and I can imagine the little habitats they’re destroying 🙁
Go.to them and ask why? There’s a financial cost associated with mowing, ask them what the cost vs benefits are?
[deleted]
[deleted]
horshack_test
Contact the city and ask.
hammonjj
I know around where I live a lot of it is due to fire hazard but I also live in a dry area of the country (Colorado)
JooJooBird
I know in some cases, they have good intentions- see something like [https://www.austintexas.gov/blog/annual-wildflower-meadow-mowing-begins-august-11](https://www.austintexas.gov/blog/annual-wildflower-meadow-mowing-begins-august-11) . Our local park puts out signs explaining that they’re doing it with expert’s input, to improve the ecology of the area.
External-Goal-3948
Ticks. Ticks love tall grass. Can’t have Ticks next to the trails
PrizFinder
Fire hazard
Funderpants
Liability, pests, bugs and fire mitigation.
NicelyBearded
Weed, nuisance tree control.
Atalant
It is a meadow, a type of lawn, unless you have grassing animals on it, you have to cut it 1-2 times a year, otherwise you gonna have a forest in 5-10 years. It is better than a regular lawn, a lot of open land species that have lost their habitats to industrial farming(and lack of big herbivores) have a refugee in there.
KittenBarfRainbows
At least they don’t do it once a week.
Judsonian1970
not keeping it trimmed would result in a costly timber clearing operation in the next 3-5 yfrvs minimal costs now
PersnickityPenguin
Weed control, ticks, fire control, etc
sec2sef
This could be a hayfield . Are they baling it?
Jay-Dee-British
Where we live it’s cos snakes get into high grasses and if you walk across them (it’s not signed that you can’t or shouldn’t) they’d be liable for you being bitten.
digging-a-hole
I work for the streets dept in a small nebraska city. I asked this very question because at home I’m trying to add more pollinator beds and it seemed a shame to mow it. at least in this case, it was a farmer that would mow it down to use for animal feed.
Ham-Ha
In SoCal, it is to reduce fire risk
shohin_branches
Looks like there is crabgrass and ground ivy in that field. Allowing noxious invasive plants to grow unchecked and just go to seed is not great either
watch-nerd
Fire danger?
A-Plant-Guy
In addition to fire hazard, not mowing allows trees to start growing. While that sounds *great* to me, it’s easier for the town to maintain mowable herbaceous plants like grass and trees while they’re still saplings.
One positive about this is it keeps invasive plants in check.
Alarming_Maybe
I talked to my local township council about this and they acted like I was a complete moron. fuck the poconos
strog91
Unless there are bison grazing on that field, it has to be cut periodically or else it’ll eventually turn into a forest.
Separately, tall grass is a breeding ground for snakes and ticks.
saintcrazy
In my part of Texas, it is common for landowners to hold onto big parcels of land like this, but in order to get tax breaks on it it has to be considered agricultural land, so they have to run a tractor over it every so often and bale up some hay so they can say they’re using it.
It’s actually not so bad. Think of it as simulating regular prairie grazing animals or a fire. The plants often bounce back just fine afterwards.
UntidyVenus
Fire remitigation. Tis the season
GoLightLady
Might be fire control? It doesn’t look too low fortunately.
25 Comments
Go.to them and ask why? There’s a financial cost associated with mowing, ask them what the cost vs benefits are?
[deleted]
Contact the city and ask.
I know around where I live a lot of it is due to fire hazard but I also live in a dry area of the country (Colorado)
I know in some cases, they have good intentions- see something like [https://www.austintexas.gov/blog/annual-wildflower-meadow-mowing-begins-august-11](https://www.austintexas.gov/blog/annual-wildflower-meadow-mowing-begins-august-11) . Our local park puts out signs explaining that they’re doing it with expert’s input, to improve the ecology of the area.
Ticks. Ticks love tall grass. Can’t have Ticks next to the trails
Fire hazard
Liability, pests, bugs and fire mitigation.
Weed, nuisance tree control.
It is a meadow, a type of lawn, unless you have grassing animals on it, you have to cut it 1-2 times a year, otherwise you gonna have a forest in 5-10 years. It is better than a regular lawn, a lot of open land species that have lost their habitats to industrial farming(and lack of big herbivores) have a refugee in there.
At least they don’t do it once a week.
not keeping it trimmed would result in a costly timber clearing operation in the next 3-5 yfrvs minimal costs now
Weed control, ticks, fire control, etc
This could be a hayfield . Are they baling it?
Where we live it’s cos snakes get into high grasses and if you walk across them (it’s not signed that you can’t or shouldn’t) they’d be liable for you being bitten.
I work for the streets dept in a small nebraska city. I asked this very question because at home I’m trying to add more pollinator beds and it seemed a shame to mow it. at least in this case, it was a farmer that would mow it down to use for animal feed.
In SoCal, it is to reduce fire risk
Looks like there is crabgrass and ground ivy in that field. Allowing noxious invasive plants to grow unchecked and just go to seed is not great either
Fire danger?
In addition to fire hazard, not mowing allows trees to start growing. While that sounds *great* to me, it’s easier for the town to maintain mowable herbaceous plants like grass and trees while they’re still saplings.
One positive about this is it keeps invasive plants in check.
I talked to my local township council about this and they acted like I was a complete moron. fuck the poconos
Unless there are bison grazing on that field, it has to be cut periodically or else it’ll eventually turn into a forest.
Separately, tall grass is a breeding ground for snakes and ticks.
In my part of Texas, it is common for landowners to hold onto big parcels of land like this, but in order to get tax breaks on it it has to be considered agricultural land, so they have to run a tractor over it every so often and bale up some hay so they can say they’re using it.
It’s actually not so bad. Think of it as simulating regular prairie grazing animals or a fire. The plants often bounce back just fine afterwards.
Fire remitigation. Tis the season
Might be fire control? It doesn’t look too low fortunately.