Port may get a little wild in some city parks

Some Port Washington parks may lose their manicured lawns and instead become swaths of prairie in the city during the next three to five years.

Jon Crain, superintendent of parks and forestry, told the Parks and Recreation Board last week that he is considering naturalizing some parks and outlying areas maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department.

“We’re not going to leave Veterans Park or Rotary Park or any other highly visible areas unmowed,” he assured board members. 

“We will always mow in recreational areas where people are and where tourists gather.”

But, he said, outlying areas such as the hillside at Whitefish Park and the northwest corner of Upper Lake Park are potential areas for naturalizing.

Other open spaces maintained by the department, such as an area near the alley behind Prospect St., are also candidates for a prairie, Crain said.

“I don’t know why they’re mowed,” he said.

Members of the Parks and Recreation Board were enthusiastic about the proposal.

“I think it’s a great idea,” board member Jeff Lamont said. “It allows you to focus your time on the parks downtown that get a lot more use.”

Board member Sue Kinas, an Ozaukee Master Gardener, noted that the move to naturalized parks will help pollinators, insects and other wildlife to flourish.

“I think it’s an excellent opportunity to convert some of these places,” she said. “Everything and anything we can do to get rid of fertilizers and move toward this is wonderful.”

But Crain warned that not everyone will feel that way.

“I think people are starting to understand dandelions aren’t horrible ... but some people love cut grass and a lot of it,” he said. “We’re going to hear about it.”

The reason for the change is twofold, Crain said. It will help the environment by reducing the need for fertilizer and other chemicals while promoting native plantings, he said, and reduce the amount of time the department spends mowing the grass.

During the summer, Crain said, five or six workers spend four days a week mowing and trimming grass in the parks.

“When you look at summer and how much time is eaten up by mowing, that doesn’t leave us much time for building maintenance,” he said, noting that crews no sooner complete one mowing cycle than they have to start over again. “There are a lot of buildings in need of attention.

“If we can reduce our mowing by one day a week, that opens a lot of time to focus on other projects.”

The change in policy doesn’t mean that the parks will be allowed to go wild, Crain said, nor does it mean they won’t be tended to.

Prairie plants will be cultivated in these parks, and a mowed path through them will be maintained, he said. 

“We’re going to try to make these colorful,” Crain said. “It’s going to take time.”

The mowed paths may lead more people to investigate these parks, he said, adding the department is considering adding features such as benches and signage along the walkways.

“Some of these areas I think will even get used more than they are now,” Crain said.

Transitioning to a prairie, he said, is the natural next step. Throughout the parks, the city has already been making a transition from annual plantings to native pollinator plants.

“It saves us a lot of money on annual flowers,” he said.

Transitioning to naturalized parks will take time, Crain said.

“It’s not going to be an abrupt thing,” he said, noting it will be a three to five year plan. “We don’t want to get in over our heads. We want to do it right and make sure it’s still attractive.”