Over the next five years, five acres of lawn throughout West Fairmount Park will be transformed into meadows.
Thanks to the generous support of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Fairmount Park Conservancy has embarked on a “Mows to Meadows” project that will bring four sites to life in the form of meadows:
- Georges Hill Meadow (1.53 acres)
- Ohio House Meadow (.38 acres)
- MLK Drive North Meadow (1.51 acres)
- MLK Drive South Meadow (1.57 acres)
The four sites are all located within West Fairmount Park’s 1,400 acres and have been mowed for several decades. But in that time, they’ve been underused.
Transforming these areas into meadow will bring many benefits to the park. Meadows are critical components to an urban ecosystem. They help soak up stormwater and provide important habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including birds and insects. Additionally, not mowing these areas will conserve resources, including money for mowing contracts and the fuel used for the mowers.
And since they will be planted with native grasses and wildflowers, the five acres of meadows will also help beautify West Fairmount Park, which currently has 11 acres of meadow.
The transformation won’t be immediate, though. Meadow creation takes several years, and the Mows to Meadows project is expected to take approximately five years to complete. It may be anywhere from two to three years from now until you will be able to appreciate the beauty of these meadows’ wildflowers in bloom.
Meanwhile, you can check out the other beautiful meadows in Fairmount Park. Check out our Fairmount Park Digital Guide here. Consider supporting our work restoring and maintaining Fairmount Park’s natural areas with a donation.
