Düsseldorf is now breaking new ground when it comes to landscape maintenance. To be more precise: the city is relying on horsepower! Two cold-blooded horses have been used for mowing since this year.
Wet meadows also need to be cared for and mown. And this has to be done in a particularly gentle manner. The city of Düsseldorf now has two animal employees for a wet meadow in the Eller Forest: the French cold-blooded geldings Jethrow and Fusain. Their job: to help people with the mowing work. “Mowing by horses is the first time that the meadow in the nature reserve has been cared for by hand,” says Marius Erley, head of the forestry department in the Garden, Cemetery and Forestry Office.
The reasons for the high-horsepower help are obvious: “It is particularly suitable for the location because it protects the soil and has an excellent ecological balance. This type of mowing protects the insect and amphibian populations that live on the wet meadow.”
Photo: State Capital of Düsseldorf/David Young
Cold-blooded animals: mowing is staggered
The city is relying on a staggered mowing period for the approximately 30,000 square meter area: the first round covered around a third of the meadow. The second third will follow in autumn, and the third in spring 2025. In this way, the city wants to ensure that there are always enough food plants and places of refuge for the creatures in the biotope.
The meadow on Rothenbergstrasse is the only large, open wet meadow area in Düsseldorf. What makes it special is that it is the last remnant of a historically extensive moorland on the edge of the Bergische Heidetrasse. The area is covered with grasses and other herbaceous plants and its soil is typically waterlogged.
Photo: State Capital of Düsseldorf/David Young
Project: Around 10,000 euros for horse mowing
The wet meadow provides a habitat for numerous rare animal and plant species such as the marsh grasshopper, the common snipe and the marsh marigold. To preserve the meadow, it is important to maintain and mow it carefully and sustainably – otherwise the area will become overgrown and lose its ecologically valuable character. Mowing also reduces nutrients such as nitrogen in the soil – this is how rare, weakly competitive plant species are preserved.
By the way: The city is willing to pay a lot for the animal help. This year it is investing around 10,000 euros in the horse mowing – financed from climate adaptation funds. After the pilot project has been completed, it will be checked how successful the mowing was. If the results are positive, a permanent continuation and expansion to other areas in the open countryside is conceivable.
