Plant This! Close your eyes and imagine a park. Not a state park or a national park, but a park that is managed by your city. Is there a playground, sports fields, or a walking trail? You are probably imagining a lot of green grass, maybe some large trees for shade. Outside of the green from the grass and trees, the park you are imagining is probably devoid of color. You can probably imagine tractors or lawn mowers roaring through the park as they keep used and unused grass neatly manicured. Do you imagine any birds? Maybe a cardinal or robin. Do you imagine goldfinches gracefully perched on flowers or indigo buntings dancing along the tree line? Probably not. How many butterflies did you imagine?
Native Plants are
Our culture has trained us to envision the green, grassy park discussed above. But maybe, just maybe, we could shift the way we think about our parks. I’m not here to tell you to get rid of all lawn grass that has ever existed, but I am here to tell you a lot of space occupied by lawn grass is wasted. Luckily, some local parks have great examples of incorporating native ecosystem components into our publicly-owned lands.
Heartlands Conservancy has teamed with Swansea Clinton Hills Conservation Park to add native ecosystem components to this retired golf course. In early June, I visited the park to monitor the progress of a newly installed rain garden and developing prairie planting at our Exploration Garden. Plants installed in the rain garden in May are growing vigorously and swamp/rose milkweed was in full bloom. As I took pictures of the rain garden’s success, I overheard a fellow patron make an observation of a eastern bluebird fluttering across the prairie planting. The bluebird is nesting in one of four bluebird boxes installed in the garden. The prairie planting was full of yellow and purple flowering native plants. The flush of color contrasted with the adjacent open space used as a disc golf course. Upon closer inspection, I observed a white-tailed deer feeding in the middle of the planted prairie. Swansea Clinton Hills Conservation Area is a fantastic example of using native plants to increase the aesthetic value within a multi use park.
Rain Garden at Swansea Clinton Hills
Prairie & Disc Golf at Swansea Clinton Hills
14 MEANDERINGS SUMMER 2022
