Saw a city park in Portland using goats for lawn care instead of mowers

I was walking through Laurelhurst Park last month and saw a fenced-off area with about a dozen goats munching on weeds and overgrown grass. The park worker I talked to said they rent the herd for two weeks each spring, and it costs the city roughly the same as using gas mowers and weed whackers. The goats leave the soil in better shape and don't make any noise or fumes. Has any other city near you tried something like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair62614d ago

Noticed this happening more and more... it feels like we're slowly circling back to simpler solutions that just work. We spent so long trying to engineer our way out of everything with machines and chemicals. Now we're realizing the old ways were often quieter, cheaper, and better for the dirt under our feet. It's a small change but it makes me wonder what other "new" ideas are just old wisdom coming back around.

derek_ramirez22d agoMost Upvoted

Ever seen that in Seattle? I mean, we had goats clear a hillside near my place and it was way better than the noise from those mowers.

alice_foster22d ago

I used to think it was a gimmick until I saw a herd clear a park in Ballard last summer.