By Charles Lefebvre

City dealing with more dandelions in green spaces

Jun 12, 2019 | 3:09 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The City of Medicine Hat is dealing with an increase in the amount of dandelions and weeds in city green spaces early in its summer season.

Multiple areas of the city, including Ross Glen Park and Crescent Heights, have been dealing with more dandelions in their grass, requiring more attention from city crews.

James Will, the general manager of parks and recreation, says the issues are not related to recent changes in service levels for some parks and green space in the city.

He says the hot, dry weather received in Medicine Hat through the past two years is the primary reason why there are more dandelions and weeds visible this year.

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“We had frozen water pipes in the city, so that frost impacts our irrigation,” said Will. “We a slow startup to irrigation this year, which meant our turf had a hard time competing with dandelions. Probably like a lot of people’s yards, you’re seeing more dandelions in parks this year. It’s not a result of our service changes, it’s just the weather we’ve had after two drought years.”

Will adds the back-to-back droughts hurt the soil in the city.

“We’re hoping for a little more rain this year, to help us catch up and replace some of the moisture levels in the soil,” he said.

In addition to chemically treating the weeds and dandelions, Will says the city is also working to replace any irrigation systems that were damaged or at the end of their life cycle.