Olmsted Parks - Restore. Enhance. Preserve.

 

Spring 2006

Investing in smaller Olmsted Parks

It was Olmsted’s vision to equip our city with large landscaped parks on the outskirts of the city. Destinations, if you will, where families would travel by trolley or horse drawn carts, to enjoy a day of picnicking and recreation in Cherokee Park, undertake rugged wilderness hiking at Iroquois or attend large public celebrations and parades along the shores of the Ohio in Shawnee. Olmsted also saw the need to provide small neighborhood parks, ones where children could play daily, and workers could escape to take in the last rays of daylight at the end of a long work day. These are the parks, sometimes a mere city block in size, that Olmsted and his firm transformed into green oases and ones that are still found today deep in our city’s urban landscape.

Developing a master plan is the first step in restoration of important community resources like neighborhood parks. It creates a long term strategy and prioritizes improvements that will be undertaken as funding, either public or private, becomes available. The planning process involves community involvement, researches the unique history of each park, details the existing conditions and identifies the current and desired park uses. During the past year, the Conservancy has completed the master planning process for two of the city’s most intensively and well-used neighborhood parks, Willow Park, at the intersection of Cherokee Parkway and Willow Avenue, and Central Park, located in Old Louisville. Willow Park will also have a new restroom facility completed this spring, thanks to continued support from the Cherokee Triangle Association.

The Conservancy and Metro Parks are progressing toward a final master plan for Algonquin Park located off Cypress and Beech Streets. This park, which also serves the growing Park DuValle neighborhood, will begin to see other changes as it is slated to receive a new family aquatic center during the upcoming year through funding obtained in the Community Development Block Grant program.

Implementation of master plans is sometimes undertaken in phases over a period of years, as funding and work load allows. Phase I improvements as identified by the Master Plan completed in 2000 for sixteen acre Shelby Park wrapped up in late fall. The Conservancy joined with neighborhood leaders five years ago to preserve this park from development. Since that time, the Conservancy has contributed over $200,000 to supplement federal and local government funding for the project. The park now has a new bandstand and walking paths, and a renovated pavilion and restroom building. It provides areas suitable for both active recreation and quiet play. Lighting for the new basketball and tennis courts, benches and trash receptacles will round out the major improvements to be completed in early spring.

In Seneca Park, a new Multi-Use Path is now open to walkers, runners, bicycles and baby strollers. This mile-long ribbon of 10 foot wide asphalt winds gently through the landscape between the park’s Taylorsville Road entrance and Beargrass Creek, with a lovely loop to Breckinridge Spring. It provides an ADA-accessible route to the high point of the path. The Conservancy contributed $50,000 to this Metro Parks project. Also in Seneca Park, the area around the tennis courts has been outfitted with new furnishings and plantings, thanks to funding from Stock Yards Bank.

Projects throughout the Olmsted system are creating healthier and more inviting landscapes. Over 2,000 volunteer hours were contributed in 2005 through our Park Champions program. Restoration of woodlands and natural areas progressed in Shawnee, Iroquois, Cherokee and Seneca Parks.

Discovering winter annuals and early flowering plants

Patricia Dalton Haragan, botanist

In late winter and early spring, small splashes of bright green begin to appear in the bleak park landscapes. Upon closer examination, these are plants with tiny, inconspicuous flowers and lacey foliage commonly found growing along roadsides, paths, in mowed fields and other disturbed sites. Known as winter annuals, these early blooming weeds are true harbingers-of-spring.

A winter annual starts from seed in autumn, develops a rosette, or circle of basal leaves before winter, then flowers and sets seed the following spring or summer. Winter annuals are known for the copious amount of seed they produce, but the seeds lie dormant during the summer months. In autumn, lower temperatures and moist soil trigger germination. Low winter temperatures delay flowering but as the warmer days of spring arrive, they bloom, sometimes as early as January.

Winter annuals with white flowers are commonly found along roadsides, paths, thin mowed turf, cultivated beds, and other disturbed sites in the parks. Among them are shepherd’s purse, sibara, field penny-cress, hairy bittercress and common chickweed. Others popular to our area are henbit and red dead-nettle, which both have pinkish-purple flowers, and several creeping speedwells which are dark blue.

Perhaps a favorite winter annual is vernal whitlowgrass (Draba verna L.), originally from Europe. This beautiful, delicate plant has threadlike stems to 7 inches tall. There are no stem leaves, only basal, and these form a perfect circle on the barren ground. Its small, spoon-shaped leaves are green or purple-tinged. The flowers are produced in clusters at the tips of the stem and composed of four white, deeply divided petals. The plant was believed to treat Whitlow disease, a hoof inflammation and thus its name. Easily overlooked, this winter annual can be found in the Cochran Hill area of Cherokee Park in thin, disturbed turf.

As spring progresses, the woodland floor takes center stage. The increased hours of light, coupled with higher temperatures and moisture, combine to stimulate plants into rapid growth before the tree canopy leafs out and blocks the sun. These native, herbaceous wildflowers are short-lived but the contrast of colors scattered over the drab woodlands is a sight to behold each spring.

The following species are a sampling of many you are likely to encounter during early spring visits to the parks.

Harbinger-of-spring (Erigenia bulbosa (Michx.) Nutt.), a tiny member of the Carrot Family, blooms from early March through April. Growing from 3-6” tall, this dainty perennial is barely visible above the withered brown leaves of previous seasons. The flowers, which are produced in small clusters atop a nearly leafless stem, are composed of tiny white petals with conspicuous black anthers. Another common name, “salt-and-pepper” aptly refers to the similarities between the flowers and the familiar cooking condiments.

Yellow fawn lily (Erythronium americanum Ker Gawl.) is a showy member of the Lily Family and a welcome sign of spring. Growing from a deep-seated bulb, the narrow, mottled leaves produced in pairs, appear to be basal but are actually produced midway up the stem. The solitary, nodding flower is composed of six petal-like parts, that become reflexed when mature and expose the six brownish stamens. Other common names include “adder’s-tongue” and refers to the immature fruit while “trout-lily” and “fawn-lily” more aptly describe the likening of the spots on the leaves to those of a trout or fawn.

The genus Trillium includes members that are some of the most beautiful flowering plants to be seen in the spring woodlands throughout the eastern United States. From the Greek word for three, the name refers to the number of leaves, sepals and petals. Toadshade (Trillium sessile L.) is often found covering hillsides. Growing from 6-12” tall, it is easily identified by the three broad mottled leaves, three green outer sepals and three maroon to reddish petals.

Wildflowers abound throughout Cherokee Park, but one of the best locations for viewing a truly beautiful display is Wildflower Woods. Located near the Daniel Boone Statue, between Cherokee Road and the Scenic Loop, this parcel of land is easily accessible. Cleared hiking trails transverse the gentle terrain and allow visitors a chance to view and identify native wildflowers they find growing at their feet.

Joining forces to slow erosion and improve water quality

Visit Cherokee Park following a heavy rain, and you’ll be amazed by the force and speed of the water flowing toward Beargrass Creek. Not only does it erode the landscape but it also causes large amounts of the soil to be deposited in Beargrass Creek, further degrading water quality. It’s a major issue being addressed in the Conservancy’s Woodlands Restoration project ongoing in Cherokee and Seneca Parks. Thanks to cooperation and funding from MSD, improvements are underway.

Late last summer, the Conservancy’s Woodlands Restoration crew created a small detention pond in Cherokee’s Netteloth Bird Sanctuary to slow the rainwater traveling from neighboring streets above the park. Following removal of invasive plants and vines, the crew deepened the “wetland” removing excess soil. The soil was then placed into biodegradable bags and arranged around the basin’s perimeter to form a berm. Blue Flag irises and native sedge was planted to help stabilize the soil and to filter the water before it reaches the creek.

Phyllis Croce, MSD Landscape Restoration Specialist, joined Conservancy Naturalist Alan Nations, for a tour of the completed worksite in early fall. She was so impressed by the impact made using limited resources that she pursued funding for the Woodlands Restoration Project through MSD’s Environmental Project Riparian Buffer program. Contributing $35,000 and providing technical expertise to address stream bank erosion makes MSD an invaluable partner in the Woodlands Project.

“The Woodlands Restoration Project is an enormous undertaking for the Conservancy and will engage numerous community agencies. Both MSD and the Conservancy know it’s important to create partnerships with each other and with park neighbors to stop the deterioration of these two parks,” said Nations.

“It is a joy to see what the Conservancy is doing and to support a project where the return for the money is immeasurable and of benefit to the entire community.” Croce said. “I can think of no better way for the money to be spent than on similar projects.”

Parks and Parkways benefit from tree donations

In Olmsted designs, mature trees serve a vital role in establishing the landscape’s character. When our parks were originally constructed, the Olmsted firm would often transplant large trees from other locations so that the design intent could be immediately achieved. Detailed planting plants defining the type and location of thousands of trees were produced by the firm and today we refer to those plans when age and deterioration demand that trees in the park landscape be replaced.

Transplantation of large, mature trees was inherently expensive, caused major disturbance to the site, and resulted in high tree mortality. Even in later years, the younger Olmsteds all but abandoned this practice, finding in general it was “preferable to plant trees of nursery sizes.”

Trees are community assets that are important to a healthy city by offering a wide range of environmental benefits, and at the same time provide tremendous beauty. Replacing trees throughout the Olmsted Parks and along the Parkways is an ongoing task for the Conservancy and Metro Parks.

Donating trees to the parks has been part of the support offered by large corporations, local and regional organizations, and by individuals who wish to honor friends and loved ones with living memorials. During the past several months, trees of “nursery size” have been planted in Shawnee Park’s Great Lawn through funding from Ford Motor Company, and along the new multi-use path in Seneca Park by the American Cancer Society and Seneca Gardens Neighborhood Association. In February, trees donated by Cinergy Corp. were planted along Algonquin Parkway. Funds from the 2005 Morris Forman Treatment Plan Supplemental Environmental project will be dedicated to replant trees in Chickasaw and Shawnee Parks.

Tree selection and locations for planting are decisions made cooperatively between the donor, Metro Parks and the Conservancy and results in continuity of the historic Olmsted designs.

If you are interested in participating in the parks’ tree planting efforts, call Kate Chandler, Executive Vice President and Director of Development at 456-8125 or email at kate.chandler@olmstedparks.org.