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Home My WebLink About078-O-20 Amending City Code Section 7-10, City Parks !"# ! " # " ! $ %& & '( )() %$*+ ,!-+ 1January 18 Natural Area Proposal Requirements Applicants must: 1. Justify and explain the benefit of the proposed Natural Area over the existing land use (if appropriate) 2. Identify the specific tasks the City would be expected to perform to develop the Natural Area and provide a cost estimate for those tasks 3. Develop a maintenance plan for the Natural Area indicating an estimated annual maintenance cost 4. Provide a letter indicating the number of volunteer hours committed to maintaining the Natural Area on an annual basis 5. Ensure that each volunteer execute the City’s liability waiver 6. Submit an annual report each December that includes: a. A maintenance log of activities completed and volunteer hours spent for the current year b. Proposed work actives for the next year including information on any pesticides, herbicides or other treatments proposed to be used. Ecological Management Schedule | Ladd Arboretum Natural Area 3.21.19 Updated 1.6.20 Dates 2019–2020 Site Steward Wendy Pollock Approved by Public Works Agency, City of Evanston Overview The Ladd Arboretum was founded in 1959 on a 17-acre strip of land between the North Shore Channel and McCormick Boulevard. The arboretum is divided by Bridge Street into two roughly equal sections. The Ladd Arboretum Natural Area occupies most of the northeast sector. The City of Evanston holds a long-term lease on the property from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. At the time of European arrival, the area was wet prairie. The land was drained beginning in the 1850s, first for a road, then for farming and building. In 1910, the North Shore Channel was completed as part of the regional sewage and stormwater management system. In a number of areas, soft blue clay from excavation of the channel had been spread onto the surrounding land. After decades of continued hard use, the heavy clay soil here was (and remains) compacted and degraded. Tree planting began in 1960. In 2007, an updated plan endorsed the arboretum’s “rustic character and natural setting” and identified as a key objective increasing biodiversity “by removing invasive and non-native plant species and revegetating areas with native plant material.” A 2017–2019 grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation’s Chi-Cal Rivers Fund has helped to accelerate invasive clearing and replacement with native vegetation. Site conditions The Evanston Ecology Center is located just off Bridge Street. Areas immediately surrounding it are heavily used. An asphalt bicycle path runs near McCormick Boulevard the length of the arboretum. An informal path used by dog-walkers, children walking to and from school, and others follows the channel bank for part of the distance from the Ecology Center toward Green Bay Road. The Ladd Arboretum Natural Area runs along the channel bank for approximately 2,000 feet, skirting the Ecology Center’s meadow and nature play area, opening out when it reaches the Grady Bird Sanctuary, and extending northeast to Green Bay Road. Even as the arboretum’s level areas were being planted in the years after its 1960 dedication, the channel bank was filling in with non-native invasives (primarily buckthorn, Asian honeysuckle, garlic mustard, Norway maples), low-quality native trees (box elder, cottonwood), and elms and ashes, most of which are now dead, dying, or regrowing as small understory trees. Other native trees scattered along the bank included hackberries, basswoods, black cherries, black walnuts, sycamores, and Ohio buckeyes. Woody vines include grape and Virginia creeper. Beginning in 2017, sections of the bank have been cleared and thinned to create a series of zones for replanting. As of fall 2019, these zones extend along approximately 1,300 feet of the bank; we plan to reach Green Bay Road by Spring 2021. The aim is a layered structure of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that provide food and shelter for birds and pollinators throughout the year. In addition, we are extending the mulched path that follows the top of the slope near the channel. List of trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants Overall goals A.Maintain and expand habitat for migratory and woodland birds B.Preserve existing native plants C.Reduce threats of invasive plants D.Improve public access and appreciation. Management objectives Activities Crew Season Remove invasive non-native woody plants Buckthorn (Rhamnus spp), Asian honeysuckle (Lonicera spp), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), white mulberry (Morus alba), burning bush (Euonymus alatus), tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), callery pear (Pyrus calleryana), Norway maple (Acer platanoides), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii). Also mohican viburnum (V. lantana), and highbush cranberry (V. opulus) if they threaten native vegetation. Pull, dig, cut seedlings and re-sprouts. Volunteers Spring, summer Remove invasive non-native woody plants Buckthorn (Rhamnus spp), Asian honeysuckle (Lonicera spp). Also mohican viburnum(V. lantana), and highbush cranberry (V. opulus) if they threaten native vegetation. Cut and herbicide stumps, resprouts. Volunteer groups with follow-up by COE or licensed operator Fall into early spring Remove dead and diseased trees, reduce deep-shading trees <6” DBH Mark and remove as required. COE Forestry Winter Reduce threats of invasive non-native weeds See detailed lists below. Scout for invasives. Pull, dig, or cut to help native plants establish and thrive. Disturb soil as little as Volunteers. Herbicides applied by Spring, summer, fall possible. Herbicides used in limited circumstances. licensed operator. Restore native plant species New plants are selected primarily from a Master plant list developed by Living Habitats for channel sites (2017). Plant trees, shrubs, forbs, grasses, sedges native to region as new areas are cleared. Replace plants that fail, fill in gaps. Collect and disperse seeds. Volunteers, COE staff Spring and fall Maintain habitat and native plants Monitor native plants. Fence, water, mulch as needed. Cut down prairie plants in spring. Volunteers, COE staff Spring, summer, fall Maintain paths, edges Volunteers, COE staff Winter, spring Clean up trash and landscape waste Coordinate clean-up days and large pickup with COE, volunteer groups. Staff keep area around Ecology Center free of litter. Volunteers, COE staff Spring, summer, winter, fall Cut or pull these aggressive non-natives Sweet clover (white, yellow) Mugwort (in front of Ecology Center, north of Grady Bird Sanctuary) Reed canary grass (small patches in front of Ecology Center) Invasive thistles Field bindweed Black medic Shepherd's purse Common burdock Creeping smartweed Japanese knotweed Wintercreeper Lily of the valley (Zone C) Cut or pull these non-natives before they go to seed As native plants grow in, these plants will be less of a problem than the aggressive non-natives listed above. Ground ivy Queen Anne’s lace Common plantain Common purslane Field pennycress Common chickweed Common chicory Curly dock Wild mustard Dandelions Nipplewort (Lapsana communis) Cut or pull these aggressive native plants Yellow nutsedge (around dock) Giant ragweed Canada goldenrod Common ragweed Horseweed Poison ivy (when close to paths and work areas) Control these native plants as needed to make room for more conservative plants Grey dogwood Black raspberry Evening primrose Virginia creeper Drummonds aster Common milkweed Pokeberry Grape Avens (Geum, at least 2 spp) Lamb's quarters Prostrate spurge Yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis fontana) Prunella vulgaris Wild lettuce Stinging nettle Black-seeded plantain Stickseed (Hakelia) Bidens Keep an eye out for these very aggressive non-natives and act fast Lesser celandine (NE of Burt’s Bees beds) Epipactis helleborine (along path near dock area, near Grady Sanctuary) Teasels (along McCormick Boulevard in front of Ecology Center) Crown vetch Birds foot trefoil Purple loosestrife Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) Cattails Common reed Oriental bittersweet Along the channel banks: Zone A: From Bridge Street to just beyond large cottonwood opposite picnic area. Canopy trees include black walnut, hackberries, linden. Understory includes staghorn sumac plus small trees and shrubs added in 2018. Elderberries, ninebark, serviceberries, woodland ferns, flowers, grasses, sedges established around dock area. Zone B: Open area opposite meadow, ending at boulder next to path and extending beyond the nature play area along a narrow section of the slope. Flowers, grasses, and sedges on level ground; shrubs and scattered trees on slope. Most were planted between Fall 2017 and Fall 2018. Zone C: Wide partly level area from sycamore and pine on far edge of nature play area to second bench. Slope was planted in September 2018. Zone D: Channel bank opposite Grady Bird Sanctuary, from second bench to large hackberry and Korean spice viburnum. Planted in Spring 2019. Zone E: Opposite to just beyond Burt’s Bees Gardens, ending at large oak. Includes shrubs and forbs around outfall, planted in Fall 2018, and roses, elderberries, and raspberries planted in 2018 and 2019. Zone F: From large oak shortly beyond outfall to bench next to asphalt path. Planted in Spring and Fall 2019. Other areas: Grady Bird Sanctuary Burt’s Bees Pollinator Gardens: Flower beds planted in 2014; area also includes oak trees and two spicebush beds. Oliver’s Serviceberry Grove Red twig dogwoods revived, serviceberries planted in 2018. Sedge and heuchera added Spring 2019. Rain gardens: Behind Ecology Center at two corners of building. Installed and maintained by Nature’s Perspectives.