In response to questions about lawn care, landscaping and lawn maintenance businesses as essential services, the City is providing the following information.
Lawn Care and Landscaping Operations
Landscaping and lawn care businesses that are providing services strictly for safety, security or sanitation purposes will be allowed. These services include lawn cutting, dethatching, rolling, clearing yard and garden debris, and aeration. This is to ensure that properties remain safe, property standards are met and that grass is maintained to help prevent ticks and mosquitoes in tall grass and standing water. Landscaping projects that are to beautify or for aesthetics only will not be permitted.
Lawn care and landscaping businesses with questions about the Provincial list of essential businesses and services can continue to call the Province’s ‘Stop the Spread’ Business Information Line at 1-888-444-3659.
Landscaping businesses and individual operations should continue to follow all of the health precautions from the Middlesex-London Public Health Unit including:
- Stay six feet away from each other (physical distancing)
- Avoid all non-essential gatherings of any size
- Stay home from work and other activities if you are sick
- Self-isolate if you have travelled outside of Canada
- Wash your hands with soap and water frequently (for at least 20 seconds)
- Cover coughs and sneezes with your sleeve or cough and sleeve into your elbow
- Clean and disinfect high touch areas frequently
This information is subject to change based on further COVID-19 developments. For information about impacts of COVID-19 on City programs and services, please continue to visit london.ca/covid-19.
City parks maintenance, lawn care and landscaping during COVID-19
Over the coming weeks, City of London crews will begin outdoor maintenance of parks, golf courses and sports fields. While this annual spring maintenance is important, modifications in services are being made to protect health and well-being of the community and City of London workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. As well, the work being done is for the purposes of safety, security and sanitization.
Starting this week, crews will begin maintenance of City golf courses including cutting greens only on these courses. Beginning in May, crews will begin removing park litter and garbage, maintaining irrigated sports fields, cutting fairways and tees on golf courses, and trimming grass in parks along pathways, a measure to allow physical distancing for those using pathways.
“This maintenance is important to protect the natural spaces across London and to ensure the security of our parks and fields so they are not significantly or irreparably damaged during this time,” says Scott Stafford, Managing Director, Parks and Recreation. “We’re focusing on service and maintenance that will allow us to safely re-open spaces when emergency orders are lifted”.
During this time, City workers will be maintaining physical distance while completing work and only one employee per maintenance vehicle. The City of London continues to follow all guidelines from local, provincial and federal health officials to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community while maintaining essential services.
While Londoners will see work proceeding in some areas of the City, residents are reminded that playgrounds, skate parks and multi-use courts, City sports fields, community gardens, off-leash dog parks and golf courses remain closed until further notice in an effort to help slow the spread of COVID-19. We continue to ask for the public’s adherence to the closure of these recreation spaces.