The management and conservation of the county’s natural resources is key to Oakland County Parks’ mission. Every winter, Oakland County Parks’ natural resources staff manages invasive species and creates habitats for native plants and animals through winter mowing.

Winter mowing maintains open prairies and oak savannah habitats. Oakland County was named after the area’s extensive, historic oak savannahs, which are plant communities scattered with oak trees. When the region was settled by Europeans, most of the savannahs were converted to agricultural land, but now are mostly home to cities and suburbs.

People modified the environment, not only through farming and construction but by suppressing fires and browsing wildlife. What was left of the oak savannahs and open prairies became overgrown, and invasive species like common buckthorn, autumn olive, honeysuckle and privet took over.

To restore these critical habitats, Oakland County Parks staff uses a skid steer—a drum with teeth—to mulch plants, shrubs and small trees beginning when the ground freezes and on days when there is little snow cover. Wildlife isn’t as active in winter, and animals like deer can avoid the skid steer.  

Winter mowing looks destructive, but it creates open spaces for native wildlife and plants, such as monarch butterflies, grassland birds, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, bluestem, prairie dock and bee balm to thrive once again. The method is also safer and more environmentally friendly than using chemical herbicides. The winter mowing leaves wood chips that staff allows to break down. It often takes a few years of successive mowing to completely break down the wood chips and suppress invasive species.

But winter mowing is only the first step in the process of open prairie and oak savannah restoration. After mowing under invasive species, natural resources staff plants native seeds. As the ground freezes and thaws, the seeds work through the cracks in the soil to germinate the next spring.

If not enough native plants are growing the following year, staff performs prescribed burns, then seed again.

Not only does Oakland County Parks staff perform winter mowing in its parks, but it also offers the service to communities throughout the county. Through the Community Habitat Improvement Program, communities can apply for the service, and Oakland County Parks has mowed in winter in parks in Rochester Hills, Farmington Hills, Springfield Township, Holly and many other communities. Oakland County Parks natural resources staff only does winter mowing for ecological reasons. Winter mowing is a critical way Oakland County Parks continues to restore and protect the region’s environment.

For information, visit OaklandCountyParks.com. Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and X.

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