Grass Cutting
In 2021, approximately 1,800,000m2 of grassland was cut. There were five rounds of grass cutting as well as land cleaning in the spring and autumn.
The maintenance of green spaces in our city has adapted to the long-term drought conditions. As part of the maintenance of public green spaces, the city decided to cut the grass five to six times a year in 2021. Bratislava has several parts for operators and providers of grass cutting. In addition to the seventeen city districts and private land managed by other entities, the city primarily manages grass cutting on two levels – road greenery and public greenery.
Road greenery
This often includes relatively large areas close to the roads managed by Bratislava City Hall. Its Road Management Department is responsible for cutting the grass as part of its operational plan and through the contracted services of AII.
Public greenery
These are grass areas and greenery on the land owned by Bratislava City Hall. This greenery is managed by the Environmental Department and the maintenance and grass cutting is carried out by Carniherba as a contracted service. The cutting of public greenery is also carried out internally by a municipal enterprise, which currently operates in the BA-II borough (i.e. Ružinov, Vrakuňa and Podunajské Biskupice).
In addition to cutting and mulching, the municipal company's workers replenish areas that were lacking nutritious soil, reseed grassy areas and create various components to promote biodiversity such as permaculture gardens, “insect hotels” and even hedgehog houses.
Exemptions from cutting
Flowering meadows have been laid out in some of the designated areas on Bratislava City Hall land. These are areas of public green space temporarily set aside from planned cutting in order to adapt to climate change, increase biodiversity and improve the quality of the public spaces.
In addition to the flowering meadows, we have also reserved several areas for “extended cutting” where we will reduce the cutting frequency from five to six times per season to just two. This is not only because of insects. Such areas also overheat less in summer and are able to retain more natural moisture.
City goats
Since its foundation, a dedicated municipal enterprise has been actively taking care of our city. They have new helpers to cut the grass, who helped them last year in the nice weather around the Rohlík pond in Ružinov. The goats you can meet here are called Vendy and Líza; they helped our colleagues cut the grass. In order for the goats to continue doing so, and to make walks more enjoyable for Bratislavans, the municipal enterprise has decided to build a ranch in the Black Forest. We were also delighted by the new addition of the baby goat Zuzu. Two ponies are also thriving on the ranch, which is gradually growing.
A few facts about the goats:
- They are sisters.
- They can cut the grass in the pen in eight hours.
- They like attention and almost everything green.
- They are, however, afraid of dogs.
- They ensure “green” and thus environmentally-friendly grass maintenance.
Traditional methods of grass cutting
For some areas, especially those with a higher degree of protection, we are looking for more environmentally friendly methods of cutting the grass. We can now look forward to a mixed herd of sheep and goats – the PressburgOVCE – who shall graze next year. Volunteer grass cutters and “junior grass cutters” from the Slovak Grass Cutting Association started with the traditional cutting of the beautiful meadow on Kráľova hora. After all, a scythe is friendlier to nature and it helps eliminate woody growth. In skilled hands, the scythe cuts the grass to the ideal length and without burning fossil fuels. Despite its historical nature, traditional grass cutting is a truly unconventional and welcome gift these days.
