Pioneer Avenue Landscape Maintenance

Public Works Department personnel remove sod built up over time at the sidewalk in front of Cosmic Kitchen.

Over the past thirty years, road sand, grass clippings and deciduous leaves have accumulated on Pioneer Avenue’s lawn and garden meanders, building the sod layer above the sidewalk, in some places as much as a foot.  The City’s Public Works Department has been out with a back hoe on Pioneer Avenue this week to bring the level of the earth back down to the level of the sidewalk.  This maintenance will help with sidewalk snow removal in the winter, and helps to rejuvenate the landscaped areas we enjoy so much during the summer.

Care is being taken to preserve established and healthy shrubs and trees; top soil is being spread over all the fresh cuts, ready for hydro-seeding to stimulate quick regrowth and greenery.  Additionally, several City maintained plots will be planted with peony tubers as part of the Pioneer Avenue Revitalization Project. Spearheaded by a local group of volunteers, the project’s goal is to strengthen the physical, social and economic fabric of Pioneer Avenue.  As part of this effort, local peony grower, and pioneer in Alaska’s peony industry, Rita Jo Shoultz is sourcing hundreds of peony tubers to plant along Pioneer Avenue – at willing private businesses, public and non-profit spaces.