Do you ever get upset about the condition of green space in the city?
The City of Vancouver has been facing a number of complaints on Twitter over 'much-needed haircuts' for the city's greenery.
Residents didn't shy away from sharing photos of bushy lawns and grassy patches around Vancouver, calling out the city for poor lawn maintenance.
Some locals seem to be genuinely concerned about the risks of overgrown lawns.
Despite heated tweets, the city has no intention of trimming the blades.
What appears as unkempt patches of grass are actually called urban meadows and have been strategically spread throughout the city. These green spaces are meant to diversify the landscape and support native flora and fauna, according to the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.
This year, the park board has widened the scope of these meadows to include "roadside meadows," which are grassy patches along road boulevards.
Though they aren't mowed, the meadows are regularly maintained and cleaned of needles and other debris. As for risks of fire hazards, meadows would be mowed down if the risk becomes too severe (such as during 2021's heat dome).
"We have grown these meadows regularly since 2020 and we are seeing that as meadows age, they diversify and more wildflower species begin to appear," the park board writes in an email to Vancouver Is Awesome.
Over time, these meadows have also attracted a greater diversity of bees, including rare native species, that are unseen in similar parks with traditional lawns.
Park board data shows the meadows were 1.2 degrees cooler than lawns and contained 20 to 30 per cent more moisture within the soil.
Mowed or not, the grass is green.
