Before Compost
After Compost
In 2021, NYC Parks and the Fort Greene Park Conservancy undertook a renovation of the park's two-acre Central Lawn. This lawn had been known for decades as The Dustbowl!
The lawn was seeded with cool season turf grass and microclover. It held up well in spring and early summer, but suffered during the 2022 drought in July and August. The park's sandy, rocky soils have limited water holding capacity and there's no automatic, in-ground irrigation there.
The next fall, park staff and volunteers incorporated ten yards of compost from Big Reuse to the areas that had the greatest turfgrass loss over the summer. The compost helped with water retention, reduced the need for supplemental fertilizer, and helped reduce soil compaction.
Going forward, the park team intends to incorporate a half-inch of compost to the lawn every year to continue to build the health of the soil.
The second picture (above) is how the lawn looks this summer. We love seeing our compost at work, and the park looks healthy and beautiful! Thank you to the team over at Fort Greene Park for sharing this update with us.