For a city to adapt to the climate crisis, every bit of greenery matters, even a lawn in a city park. For a long time the “ideal of beauty” for urban greenery (and for the home garden) was a low green lawn with no flowers. From an ecological point of view, such a lawn has little value. Because of the minimal grass height (a few millimetres), this greenery is hardly able to cool the environment or provide a habitat for insects, hedgehogs and small reptiles. Closely mown grass is quite vulnerable to extreme weather events, which are intensifying because of the climate crisis. — Oksana Pol, geographer
For these reasons and others, some cities in Europe practise turning closely mown lawns into urban meadows. Meadows retain precipitation better and tolerate heat and drought better than short lawns, which in summer often resemble a brown-yellow desert.
The blooming heart of Erfurt
Since 2017, Erfurt, the capital of the German state of Thuringia, has radically changed its approach to caring for urban space, betting on ecological expediency instead of traditional mowing. Today, almost 44 percent of the 240 hectares of urban greenery is mowed only once a year. In addition, wildflowers were sown on 27 special plots to support natural biodiversity. Thanks to this initiative, Erfurt’s summer landscape is decorated not by short lawns but by colourful meadows with poppies, cornflowers, daisies and wild thistle.
This strategy is critically important for the urban ecosystem, since tall, fragrant grass becomes a safe shelter and food source for insects. Amid dense development and the paving of cities, natural habitats are becoming ever scarcer, so such zones are vital for preserving fauna. Moreover, flowering meadows significantly improve the microclimate in densely populated areas, as they effectively cool the space and prevent stone surfaces from overheating on hot days.
Sascha Doll, head of the horticulture office in Erfurt, comments on the city’s position: “An English lawn is a purely chemical laboratory. It needs to be watered, fertilised, treated with herbicides and insecticides, constantly mowed and aerated. It takes an enormous amount of time, and in the end I cannot control the process to make the lawn look perfect, like an example from a gardeners’ magazine.”
Traditional lawns with low grass require significant budget spending, as they have to be mowed up to 16 times a year. Seeking to optimise resources, the Erfurt authorities decided to change their strategy and mow selected areas of flowering meadows only once a season. At the same time, the city kept part of its territories with short grass specifically for residents’ active recreation. The community welcomed the appearance of flowering zones, and city policy actively supports the expansion of such plantings as an environmentally justified step.
At the same time, expert Sascha Doll notes that the public perception of how a modern garden or park should look still needs rethinking. At first the sight of grass “shooting” upwards along with weeds may seem unusual and even neglected. Yet it is precisely the flowering of these wild plants that attracts bumblebees, whose pleasant buzzing in summer becomes a living sign of a healthy ecosystem. This approach teaches us to see beauty in natural processes that were previously considered undesirable within the city.
Flowering meadows as a new brand of the modern city
To emphasise the city’s identity, special flower mixes in the community’s official colours — red, orange and white — are sown on selected plots in Erfurt. A large-scale stage of this initiative was the year of the Federal Garden Show (“Buga”), when an additional 16 hectares of flowering strips were laid out along the city’s roads. Eleven local farmers joined the project, providing their land for planting marigolds, echinacea, mallow and poppies. This decision not only decorated visitors’ route to the show but also cemented Erfurt’s status as a true garden city.
Promoting the idea of a “living” lawn, the city authorities actively use photographs of flowering meadows as proof of the benefits of the natural approach. Abandoning frequent mowing allows the ecosystem to self-restore and become richer in nutrients over the years. When grass is left alone, multicoloured wild plants appear in it, creating a natural cycle of regeneration. Erfurt is currently implementing two parallel strategies: in the remote areas of parks the grass is simply left to grow naturally, while in showcase locations flowers are deliberately planted in the city’s signature colours.
Just let the lawn grow
Erfurt’s experience clearly proves that turning an ordinary lawn into a flowering meadow brings the city not only ecological but also significant economic dividends. This approach greatly reduces the cost of maintaining green areas: abandoning frequent mowing makes it possible to minimise watering and completely eliminate the use of fertilisers. As a result, the city gains viable plantings that are much better adapted to the challenges of the modern climate crisis.
The question of biodiversity becomes critical against the backdrop of the relentless expansion and development of cities. The pursuit of “sterile”, perfectly trimmed lawns directly contradicts declarations about protecting nature, since in such an environment bumblebees, bees and butterflies have no chance of survival. Creating flowering islands in urban space is a real way to bring life back to the concrete jungle.
Despite the obvious benefits, most residents still prefer short lawns out of habit, considering them the standard of order. However, this is rather a matter of a lack of information about the aesthetic potential and ecological value of tall wildflower grass. That is why it is time to rethink old standards and open up to the public the true beauty of urban meadows.
Sources used:
Landeshauptstadt Erfurt (2020): Blühwiesen – natürliche Vielfalt in der Blumenstadt.
Mdr Thüringen (2020): Mähen war gestern: Erfurt setzt auf Blühwiesen in der Stadt Antje Kirsten