Balancing Sustainability in a Historic Community

by Heather Prince

In 1868, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were commissioned to design a planned community among the oak- and hickory-forested banks of the Des Plaines River. Streets were laid out to follow the contours of the land and the winding bend of the river. A Grand Park system was designed that linked several large parks through the spine of the village and included 46 small triangular parks and plazas at intersections throughout the town. Olmsted wrote, “We recommend the general adoption, in the design of your roads, of gracefully-curved lines, generous spaces, and the absence of sharp corners. The idea being to suggest and imply leisure, contemplativeness and happy tranquility.”

As Olmsted’s first fully realized ideal suburb, Riverside was intended to be a compromise between private and public spaces and a blend of city and the rustic countryside. Because of its historic importance, the Riverside Landscape Architecture District in the heart of the village has been designated a National Historic Landmark. How do you manage a historic community’s green spaces, especially one founded on principles of shared natural areas and park lands, in today’s reality of climate change, devastating pests, and invasive species? We talked to Village Forester Michael Collins, about how Riverside has dealt with these challenges while inorporating sustainable landscape practices.

It Still Takes a Village

“There are a lot of different distinct landscapes in Riverside,” commented Collins. “There are manufactured landscapes around homes and businesses, parks providing both pastoral and pictorial views, natural areas, turf for sports, and raised planted beds that beautify the village.” With these layers of green spaces, balancing the needs of the modern community with Olmsted’s vision has required everyone’s participation. There is a strong community partnership between citizens who volunteer, local civic organizations, and the Village. “Volunteer and civic organizations support

us through workdays throughout the year. It has been a vital partnership. We liaise with a team of dedicated volunteers to steward our green spaces. It makes such a big difference in maintaining the landscape in such a resource-challenged community.” said Collins. The green spaces of Riverside make up nearly 40 percent of the village. “We only have seven laborers and three administrative staff for 87 acres of public green space. There is no shortage of maintenance needs.”

If We Had the Plan

Managing the land is further complicated as Olmsted left no finalized master plan. “When the Chicago Fire happened in 1871, it halted development of Riverside as resources were poured into Chicago,” reported Collins. “There was no formal wrap-up between Olmsted and the Riverside Improvement Company.” As community needs evolve, the Village relies on Olmsted’s writings. “We adhere to Olmstedian principles with multi-layered canopies in green spaces. Olmsted did not leave a plan or master plan for Riverside. We have a series of letters to his wife and the Riverside Improvement Company in addition to a Preliminary Report furnished by Olmsted, Vauz and CO landscape architects in 1868. His departure was rather sudden. We incorporate his principles according to his writings. These include mass plantings or native groupings and layering of understory trees and perennials beneath the overhead canopy of mature trees. His writings are interpreted as the plan,” commented Collins.

Fortunately, Olmsted was ahead of his time in his incorporation of extensive green space throughout Riverside. “The brilliance of Olmsted’s design was building up parks to give the illusion of open green space by mounding up the land,” observed Collins. “The extensive modern studies documenting the social and mental health benefits of green spaces prove their worth. Olmsted incorporated principles and had a vision that had no scientific backing at the time. He was a very forward-thinking gentleman.”

Coping with water

One of Riverside’s biggest challenges is the periodic flooding of the Des Plaines River. “As a natural resource manager, I’ve always been a big believer in climate change. Extreme weather used to be parsed out, but we’re not seeing that anymore,” observed Collins. With more unpredictable weather, Riverside experiences 100-year floods more often. Not only does that mean water in residents’ basements, but an increased need for more floodwater mitigation so stormwater is managed sustainably instead of pushed downstream. “We have installed green infrastructure throughout the Village to help manage stormwater. For one project, thanks to a grant from MWRD, we have installed a permeable green parking lot that drains into a sedge swale. It’s been very successful, but also requires more maintenance,” reported Collins.

Climate change is also impacting the trees in the urban forest of Riverside. “We are seeing a loss of maple trees in the community,” reported Collins. “They are like a canary in the coal mine. It can be one of the first species to struggle with weather extremes. Maples are mesic trees, but their roots don’t (continued on page 26)

(continued from page 25) want to be in saturated soils for an extended period of time. They can be a sensitive species. Drought causes the ground to tighten; flooding puts them under water and either way, they lose their fine feeder roots. We’ve seen lots of dieback on the tops that correlate to root loss, be it flooding or drought. We have shied away from planting maples in recent years and climate scientists are forecasting a reduction of maple species in the Chicagoland region by 2050. We have never planted Autumn Blaze in Riverside, but we do have Norway maples, planted in the 70s, and those have really been impacted by climate change in addition to our native species.” Collins is proactive in educating himself and residents. “I participate in conferences and climate adaptation workshops to review planting practices and reforestation to respond to climate change and make our urban forest more resilient.”

Understanding the challenges

Weather isn’t the only reason for tree loss. Emerald ash borer took its toll on the Chicago area’s urban canopy. “We have collaborated with the U.S. Forest Service following the impact of emerald ash borer,” said Collins. “We lost 11% of our total tree population to EAB. We have ensured there is forward thinking involved in the replacements, so these trees have a chance to succeed in the long run. Trees require maintenance and care like any infrastructure. We don’t want to plant now to watch them die later. It’s a long-term commitment for success with green infrastructure.” With these threats to Riverside’s signature trees and leafy character, Collins and the Public Works department have reevaluated how they handle replacing parkway trees. “We used to do parkway tree installation as a co-op where the Village and the homeowner split the cost, allowing the resident to select the tree species. Now we take a controlled stance. We pay for the entire cost of the tree; the homeowner just needs to water it until it is established. We wanted to be in the driver’s seat on what species gets planted where. When a tree needs to be replaced, the homeowner gets a very short list to select from as we are trying to improve species diversity throughout the Village.”

Increasing the diversity of the urban forest is part of Riverside’s sustainability initiatives. “Diversity is one of (continued on page 28)

(continued from page 26) the most important components for sustainability,” mentioned Collins. “We try to build tree diversity block by block and although we champion our heritage oaks, we don’t want to create a monoculture of them, either.” We must learn from the past. Street trees and park trees are treated differently. “In our park plantings, we strive to stick to native groupings as Olmsted described. For parkway plantings we tend to add cultivars to the mix and incorporate disease resistant varieties as long as we don’t overplant one species. Species diversity trumps genetic diversity.” Olmsted valued mature trees and they play a significant role in Riverside’s character. “A major challenge would be a loss of many native tree options due to invasive pests,” reflected Collins. “Upon Olmsted’s arrival in Riverside, he mused about the groupings of elm and ash. Due to EAB and Dutch Elm Disease, we have lost those species for planting due to the invasive pests introduced to our landscape. Olmsted could not have predicted these losses.”

Riverside is also trying new ways of maintaining their mature trees. They partnered with Roy Diblik for an experimental planting of native sedges under historic oaks at the triangular park at Kent and Longcommon roads instead of mulch. “Sedges can help nurture oaks by providing moisture, reducing turf grass competition, and other ecological associations that are incredibly beneficial,” noted Collins. “Once established, sedges will require much less maintenance over time compared to weeding mulched areas.”

Big task, many pantners

In the green spaces of Riverside, the Village has preserved and attempted to restore natural areas in addition to maintaining sports turf, playgrounds, and designed spaces. The natural areas act as buffers for storm water, but also act as pollinator preserves and provide a glimpse of what Olmsted would have experienced when laying out the town. Battling invasives has become perhaps the biggest challenge to establishing native plants to act as green infrastructure. “There’s been a multi-faceted approach in dealing with the invasive plants introduced,” observed Collins, including controlled burns, buckthorn removal, targeted herbicides, and replanting with natives. Community volunteers have been key stewards of the natural areas as Riverside also partners with outside contractors, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and land managers. Some days, it’s a bigger challenge than others. “In Indian Gardens, removing buckthorn is rather like painting the (continued on page 30)

(continued from page 28) Golden Gate bridge. By the time you get one area done, it grows back in another. The river flooding causes a high level of disturbance, so areas are regularly re-flushed with weed seed,” commented Collins. Historic Swan Pond is another example of incorporating native plants to mitigate storm water and flooding. “We originally worked with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to create a drainage swale of native plantings to help mitigate pooling flood waters in Swan Pond. After installation, ice dams on the river wiped out the plantings during the spring thaw. We then partnered with Heidi Natura of Living Habitats in efforts to reinstall the swale in Swan Pond,” reported Collins. The Army Corp had regraded Swan Pond to drain to a low spot and then into the river. “Due to the ice damage, we replanted 10,000 plugs of native grasses, rushes and forbs to soak up that water and expand the planting site. We’re battling a lot of invasives trying to get that area to stabilize and naturalize and we’ve engaged an ecological restoration company to maintain it. It’s been quite a journey with all the flooding constantly reintroducing weed seed.”

When you drive through Riverside, take a few moments to appreciate Olmsted and Vaux’s plan for a green and leafy tranquil suburb. You’ll likely get lost among the winding streets, but you’ll also find unexpected pocket parks, mature oaks, and ribbons of parkland filled with residents enjoying their open spaces. This Village treasures its historic roots and is looking forward to preserving and interpreting its founding vision into the years to come as it embraces diversity and sustainability.