Grass Root Issues

This should be of interest to every Resident in every estate since we estimate that the local Johnstown Area alone spends in excess of €25,000 annually on 8 months of grass cutting.

A previous article discussed the reasons why Residents need to pay for estate maintenance but since it's a significant amount of resident's voluntary contributions we offer up some 'food for thought' about what could be done to reduce these costs.

The most obvious solution is not as drastic as you might first think.

If you halve the amount of grass requiring attention it doesn't exactly halve the cost but it certainly makes a significant difference. Using the Bailis Downs Estate lawns as an example, Residents will have spent close to €50,000 on grass cutting since it was first built nearly 20 years ago.

Without the need for any detailed planting design large grassed lawns are convenient for Developers to create quickly and economically. However what other plant requires pruning every 2 weeks or produces significant amounts of waste clippings 14 times a year?

Change the Grass Type.

To dig up and swap the lawn seed for slower growing grass doesn't make enough of a difference to the cost of maintenance to make it a viable solution. Neither is adding seeds of flowering clover to smother some grasses and weeds since it won't survive being walked on.

Wildflower Meadows

Once implemented as Wildflower Meadows the maintenance cost could be 80% LESS expensive than grass lawns.

Creating an all year round flower display provides an attractive, sustainable alternative feature. They're not good for walking or playing on but we could retain some lawn for play space. Selling off the unwanted turf might also be an option to reduce installation costs. For a saving of 80% of Residents money compared to grass cutting fees over many years it's worth considering!

Very Simple Play Areas

To gain new land to build a traditional playground in Johnstown is going to be a long time in coming. In the meantime some painted hard surfaces, landscaped bumps, a simple and robust swing / see-saw, slabs or stepping stones set into the ground and surrounded by mulch could remove wide areas of lawn.

Combine nature and play.

What about something on a grander scale that serves a dual purpose of being a pleasant landscaping feature and also provide some entertainment?

Seating areas

If there's feature areas to be admired or for small children to play around then why not provide a seat from which to enjoy these areas. Using gravel or hard surface these spaces could reduce lawn sizes although not by much.

Where is our local outdoor seating area?

Other than bus shelters is it any wonder why teenagers gather outside the Johnstown Shopping Centre to use the sheltered makeshift seating wall. A series of simple benches distributed across the area would be used by a variety of age groups.

A projects like these could provide a visible return for everyone's investment whilst reducing long term costs.

Residents

Everyone likes to see their financial contributions put to use and something as prominent as planting is an investment. 'Sponsor a Plant' might get more people to contribute when groups raising funds call door 2 door.

Grants

Any challenge which engages and involves the local community to create something significant has access to funding.

Sponsors

If a feature is prominent and attractive then it naturally becomes worthy of potential business sponsorship. Our Johnstown roundabout was offered for €1,000 a year and therefore those surrounding lawn areas could be equally, if not more, valuable.

Competition

Something like this could make a great Pride of Place entry

If it can be encouraged throughout the area then it would be a huge contribution to the Johnstown Tidy Towns Entry.

There's scope to setup a local competition based on different criteria such as design, involvement, scale, sustainability, wildlife etc and have locally sponsored prizes.