City council had a limited response to a proposal to plant wildflowers along city boulevards
Drafted by civic operations director Blake McIntosh in response to a request from council at their January 23 budget meeting, council simply received the report during their regular meeting on Monday and took no further action.
The report outlines the benefits and costs of the idea and uses a stretch of Massey Boulevard between Ospika Boulevard and Foot Street as an example of what it would take to convert a typical grass boulevard into the foliage.
The idea is to diversify plantings within urban landscapes that allow for biodiversity, increase habitat for pollinators while improving visual esthetics, but would come with a price tag.
The work would require excavation and removal of the existing grass turf, adding topsoil and seeding with the appropriate wildflower mix.
The cost of the conversion would be $21,000-$24,000 plus a further $3,000-$5,000 in maintenance that would entail twice per season to prevent invasive species from propagating.
Because the median is not irrigated, it would need to be watered during the seed germination window and throughout the growing season.
In contrast, maintaining the stretch as is costs $450.
