Max Peterman, 1, makes a grab for a grape vine at Bradner Gardens Park in the Mount Baker neighborhood. Bradner Gardens is one of 22 parks, playgrounds and playfields that Seattle Parks and Recreation maintains without using pesticides.
How many Seattle parks are pesticide free? Twenty-two parks are pesticide free.
Will there be more parks like this? It’s not likely. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department doesn’t want to stretch resources too thin, and in order to do a good job, 22 is about all that they can handle.
How do you keep a pesticide-free park? Hand-weeding is key. Mulch also helps smother invasive weeds and grasses. Use native plants and low-maintenance species or those that don’t need a lot of water once established.
So, no chemicals are used at all? That’s the goal. However, parks workers have had to use chemicals a few times in recent years to get rid of hornets that had a nest near a play area.
What's in the parks for my kids to enjoy? Each park offers its own unique features, from playgrounds and soccer fields to gardens and visitor centers. For specifics on pesticide-free parks, go to: www.seattle.gov/parks/horticulture/pesticide.htm.
What chemicals are used in other parks? Roundup herbicides are most commonly used.
How will I know if chemicals have been used at a park? The city posts signs at obvious entries to parks with details on when and where pesticides are applied.
Pesticide-Free: A Guide to Seattle’s Naturally Maintained Parks
By Melanthia M. Peterman
When freeing the little ones to romp around in the many parks scattered about Seattle, parents might wonder what chemicals their children will encounter along the way. The answer is none at nearly two dozen parks in Seattle where hand-weeding and mulching has taken the place of pesticide use.
Seattle Parks and Recreation started maintaining pesticide-free parks in 2001. The program has been such a success that eight more sites were recently added to the list, including parks in Northgate, South Lake Union, Alki and Lakewood neighborhoods.
All told, there are 22 pesticide-free parks in the city. Some are marked with rainbow signs near park entrances, while others have signs with a dragonfly logo that reads “Pesticide Free Park.” Similar signs with ladybug logos are available through the Washington Toxics Coalition for residents who maintain organic yards.
The city’s pesticide-free program began when Seattle’s parks department came under public scrutiny for using chemicals while advocating that homeowners use friendlier alternatives. “I think the public felt we were not really walking our talk,” says Barbara DeCaro, resource conservation coordinator for the parks department.
Parks and Recreation maintains more than 400 parks that make up roughly 11 percent of the city’s land. Size was a key consideration as the city picked which parks could be maintained without using pesticides. They must be small enough, less than 10 acres, so groundskeepers can easily maintain them.
The parks require a range of landscape or recreational features, such as play areas, P-patch gardens and paths for walking or biking. And there also should be the potential for support from neighborhood volunteer groups.
Initially, 14 sites were selected citywide for a pilot project to test how well the city could keep pests at bay without using chemicals – not even soaps, oils or other biopesticides, those that are derived from animals, plants and certain minerals.
In some cases, officials determined pesticides were necessary, like when hornets had to be removed from nearby play areas because of health and safety concerns. DeCaro says that even then, parks workers used organic based sprays, such as some that contain peppermint oil. Only state-approved chemicals are used, and crews follow safety instructions and dosage guidelines.
“It's not necessarily about whether a pesticide is used, but which one,” DeCaro says. “We do look for the least environmental impacts, (and) public and staff safety.”
At Bradner Gardens in the Mount Baker neighborhood, visitors are treated to an abundance of flowers, fruits and vegetables that make up the bulk of the 1.6-acre park. The gardens are maintained by Seattle Tilth and members of the city's popular P-patch program, which provides 2,500 community garden plots for people to grow organic vegetables, fruits and flowers. They surround a 33-foot tall windmill and are crisscrossed with mulched paths, foot bridges and dry creek beds. Nearby there’s a basketball court and a red tractor where children can climb and play.
Farther south, tiny Beer Sheva Park offers a sprawling expanse of lawn along Lake Washington, with a children’s play area and picnic tables, a tennis court and a boat launch.
There’s no easy way to compare how much it costs to maintain pesticide-free parks vs. those where chemicals are used. “We don’t have a way to track labor costs,” DeCaro says.
The city posts signs alerting the public whenever pesticides are in use. The weed killer Roundup is the pesticide commonly used in Seattle parks, and DeCaro says the city uses it and all other approved chemicals sparingly. Last year, the city used only about 77 pounds of pesticides on more than 6,000 acres, excluding golf courses.
In large parks like Discovery Park in Magnolia, the city would have a hard time eliminating pesticide use altogether because of invasive plant populations. In such areas, digging or mulching just isn’t effective in eliminating some noxious weeds, like Japanese Knotweed cultivars.
“We do need to use herbicides there because we’re talking about large acreage,” DeCaro says.
The city limits the amount of shrubs, trees and garden beds to about 20 percent of the area at a pesticide-free park. It’s a good ratio that allows workers to keep weeds in check.
Another sustainable practice is to use native plant species – like Salal, Sword ferns, Indian Plum or Oceanspray – that thrive in the Pacific Northwest and aren’t prone to disease and pest infestations that affect non-native varieties.
Where possible, the parks also have hard surfaces like cement paths, rather than gravel, which is higher-maintenance because weeds and grass eventually creep back in.
At this point, there are no plans to add more pesticide-free parks to the city’s list, DeCaro says, because the city doesn’t have the staff to adequately maintain any more than it already does.
“With the resources we have, that’s what we can manage well right now,” she says.
Where They Are
Baker Park, 8347 14th Ave. N.W. Webster Playground, 3014 N.W. 67th St. Meridian Playground, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. Belvoir Place, 3659 42nd Ave. N.E. West Montlake Park, 2815 W. Park Drive E. Northgate Community Center and Park, 10510-10548 5th Ave. N.E. Lake City MiniPark, Lake City Way and Northeast 125th Street University Playground, 9th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 50th Street Elliot Bay Bikeway, in Myrtle Edwards Park at 3130 Alaska Way W. Magnolia Tidelands Park, West Ruffner to Elliott Bay Marina Mayfair Park, 2600 2nd Ave. N. Regrade Park, 2251 3rd Ave. South Lake Union Park, Westlake Avenue North & Aloha Street TT Minor, 17th Avenue East and East Union Street Denny Blaine Lake Park, 200 Lake Washington Blvd. E. Fairmount Playfield, 5400 Fauntleroy Way S.W. Alki Playground, 5817 S.W. Lander St. Beer Sheva Park, S. Atlantic Street & Rainier Avenue S. Benefit Playground, 9320 38th Ave. S. Lakewood Playfield, 5013 S. Angeline St. Bradner Gardens, 29th Avenue South and South Grand Street Day Street Park, 1400 Lakeside Ave. S.
