Mowing the lawn is a pain. An unkempt yard is a hazard. Solution: Bring in the sheep.
On a four-acre patch of unused industrial land along Cleveland’s Lake Erie shore, a flock of 36 sheep plus one protective llama is being employed to keep the grass short. Chomping away in the fenced-off space all summer long, the sheep kept the lot looking tidy for half the cost of a landscaping crew — $1,500 compared to nearly $4,000.
“There’s a lot of empty land, and not a lot of money to take care of it,” said Michael Fleming, executive director of community development organization St. Clair Superior, which founded the sheep grazing program in 2012 with $8,000 in grant money.
Dispatches From The Front 