Plants with a purpose: How Tulsa is using wildflowers to save money

The City of Tulsa is using wildflowers to help save taxpayer money. Here’s how it works.

The Seeds

Crews with the city’s stormwater division planted watershed wildflower meadow seeds across ten acres of land near Tulsa International Airport.

Officials then wait and let the flowers bloom, hoping that, in addition to some color, the plants can give the city back some green.

“It seems to be successful so far,” said Jacob Hagen, operations manager with the City of Tulsa’s Stormwater Division.

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The Savings

Specifically, savings when it comes to mowing. It costs $5,000 to plant the flowers. It’s about the same as it would cost to mow the area used as part of this pilot program.

“In about the last month or so as the temperatures have warmed up, it’s been great to see them really jump out there and the blooms start to explode,” Hagen said.

Crews hope to save maintenance costs in the long term.

“So it's a net neutral this first year,” he said. “But then hopefully in the years to come, as these areas naturally sustain themselves with the seed and the wildflowers, they'll be able to have some cost savings down the road.”

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The Highways

The Native Plant Society and ODOT have been using a similar program for years, planting wildflowers along highways across the state.

The long-term vision is simple: reduce the need for mowing, rely less on expensive water treatment methods, and create healthier stormwater systems, one flower at a time.

“Cutting back on the mowing and letting native plants grow,” Hagen said.

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