meadow

The City of Salem is awarded a $1,000 Green Grant in the Community Beautification category as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program.

Located in the Roanoke Valley along the Allegheny/Blue Ridge mountains, the City of Salem, is comprised of 15 square miles and has a population of about 25,000 residents. The City’s Landscape Management Division has a horticulturist at its helm with full and part-time employees tasked with urban forestry, landscaping of municipal parks, schools, and greenways.

In an effort to increase the acreage of naturalized areas for pollinators on public land, the City will convert existing turf grass to a working native prairie. They will start with a pilot plot of about half of an acre at Longwood Park, one of Salem’s largest parks.  They will plant native seed/species to (re)introduced into that area. This will serve to benefit future pollinators by inviting a diversity of species and create an attractive area in the park for the public to enjoy.  It will also reduce the need for mowing the area, which will decrease the amount of emissions put into the atmosphere.

Funds provided by the Green Grant will be used to remove current grass, prepare the ground, purchase seeds and plant by hydroseeding.  Information and educational signs will be posted to enlighten the public about the value of having a wildflower area in the park.  The signage will also help visitors understand the slow, natural process and to exercise patience.

Prairies take some time to produce the look that most people associate with a beautiful, naturalized, flowering meadow. Often, people mistake these fledgling endeavors as eyesores or weedy, unkept messes, not understanding that the native plants need a season or two to establish a hearty root system before flowering.  But by year two or three, the seeds and plants will have matured enough to begin to “wow” patrons with their flowers and provide a great food source for pollinators.

Thank you Salem, for introducing the sustainable practice of converting large areas of turf grass into a wonderland of blossoms.  The bees, butterflies, and visitors are sure to love it!