Dunedin gang members may be tending to a very different sort of patch in the near future.

A proposal by Mongrel Mob and Black Power members to pick up Dunedin City Council lawn mowing contracts is set to be trailed later this year.

Last year, the two gangs made a joint submission to councillors asking them to consider allowing them to be contracted to maintain some of the city's green spaces.

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull doesn't buy into suggestions this group would use the work as spying missions for criminal activity.

He says anyone is able to walk along grass verges, so it doesn't really matter if who's doing the work.

Dave Cull says they're not guaranteeing the group the work.

"This is simply about a group of people bidding for contracts and asking to do it."