GROW NOT MOW

The “Grow Not Mow” is a volunteer-led program in Shaker Heights working to restore several woodland sites within the Doan Brook Watershed. It is an innovative environmental initiative designed to promote sustainability, improve biodiversity, and reduce the urban ecological footprint by replacing traditional mowed grass fields with native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers.

Why Grow Not Mow?

Launched in 2022, “Grow Not Mow” promotes reducing lawns by replacing grass with native plants. This initiative restores habitats, supports pollinators, and combats invasive species. Restoration efforts include removing invasive plants like Porcelain Berry and Japanese Honeysuckle. Native plants, adapted to the local climate, require fewer resources and benefit wildlife, creating more resilient ecosystems.
Citizen volunteers engage in conservation, enhance urban biodiversity, and learn sustainable landscaping practices, empowering community environmental stewardship. As a “living laboratory,” participants document their experiences, share results, and test ecological solutions, gathering valuable data on urban ecology.

Shaker Heights seeks to model environmental best practices by integrating sustainable landscaping and promoting community-based solutions to address climate challenges. Through planting native plants and removing invasive species, reducing mowing, and allowing annual leaves and vegetation to stay onsite this program makes a significant impact on the local ecosystem. Some of the benefits include:

• The beauty of the natural woodland and meadow will enjoyed by our entire urban population
• Decreased mowing related emissions and soil compaction
• Additional habitat that contributes to regional pollinator pathways
• Reduction of stormwater due to increased absorption by native plants
• Increased absorption of air pollution and carbon by thousands of new plants and trees
• Through photosynthesis, the restored forest produces oxygen
• Overall improvement in habitat resiliency