Designing Natural Areas

Cleveland owns roughly 20,000 vacant lots that are routinely mowed to meet city ordinances. This pattern book, developed by Western Reserve Land Conservancy with the City of Cleveland, lays out a different approach: reduce mowing in targeted areas and let tree canopy grow in on its own. It covers the groundtruthing process behind site selection, the maintenance services that prepare a lot for natural growth, and sample site plans co-designed with city staff across the Opportunity Corridor, St. Clair-Superior, and Buckeye-Woodhill.