The space at Redwood Park included in the pilot project. (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

City piloting naturalization project with U of L

Sep 10, 2021 | 12:16 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The City has teamed with the University of Lethbridge on a new environmental pilot project.

It revolves around naturalization. That’s the process of purposefully bringing in native plants and grasses to an area in order for it to revert back to the natural landscape of the region.

City of Lethbridge Parks Planning Manager, Chris Witkowski said, “the benefit of naturalization is reducing water consumption, increasing native prairie plant populations and decreasing the amount of manicured grass space that requires weekly mowing and other special treatment.”

He noted this type of habitat restoration is practiced in many different communities, including Calgary and Edmonton.

Witkowski added that it will help save costs on mowing and other grass maintenance. He said, “it was a recommendation made by KPMG through the Fiscal and Operational Performance Review.”

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“We saw this as a great opportunity to pilot the recommendation on a small scale while working with the University Applied Studies Program to gain experience on researching and evaluating a local project.”

In addition to saving costs for the city, Witkowski noted that native grass can create space for key pollinators to come into the region.

“Native grass also has a very deep root system and that helps with erosion control and storm water – it really absorbs more of the water on these big storm events than a manicured lawn would, so there are multiple benefits aside from just a [cost saving] measure on the mowing side.”

Kirsten Hironaka, a student in the Applied Studies program, is working with the city on the pilot.

She said, “I was very interested in seeing what would be involved with establishing a native or drought tolerant grass within an urban environment.”

“We see it traditionally, of course, on the fringes of our city and I was really curious to see what would be involved and what would be the methods in successfully establishing native grasses in the urban environment.”

The three spaces selected for the project are:

• The northwest corner of Redwood Park
• 28 Street North green strip, south of 7 Avenue N.
• Mt. Blakiston Road West Green Strip, across from Mt. Crandell Park

The sites were stripped of existing turf and seeded with a natural seed mix in July. Both Witkowski and Hironaka noted that native seeds are a bit slower to germinate than traditional turf grasses. Because of this, weeds are typically observed for several weeks. The weeds though, actually provide cover for the starting seeds and can shelter them from wind.

Witkowski said the weeds will be controlled at appropriate times during the pilot program, while balancing new grass growth and establishment.

More on naturalization is available here.