You’re not the only one who has observed that the grass field at your neighborhood park is longer than usual. All of our park’s vegetation is growing more quickly than it has in a long time as a result of the extraordinary amount of rain we’ve received this spring.
We are also dealing with a lot of deferred work at Seattle Parks and Recreation after two years of personnel issues brought on by the pandemic.
Low staffing levels, a backlog of unfinished maintenance tasks, and the accelerated growth of grass brought on by the weather have combined to produce a perfect storm that has resulted in longer-than-usual grass on several park fields.
To help us ramp up tackling deferred maintenance across our system, we’ve recently employed scores of new grounds maintenance staff members.
We put a lot of effort into keeping up with demand and making sure that our over 485 parks receive the upkeep they require, which includes routine mowing at fields that are actively used. As we seek to boost mowing at these places, we ask the community for their patience.
How about the tall grass in the other park areas?
Please learn about Seattle Parks and Recreation’s deliberate practice of leaving longer grass in some “passive turf” areas that are not actively used by the general public.
This is a component of a change we are testing in our grass management methods to enhance habitat for pollinators that are in decline, conserve water and fuel, cut emissions, and organize our resources more effectively.