Today, Bryant Park was planted. (This is a triangle park 100m x 50m x 50m that sits next to route 366, a busy mid-town corridor between downtown and Cornell University.)
Today, 500 pounds of mulch was delivered to Bryant Park. Plus a wheelbarrow, shovels, spades, and rakes. The plants were a gift from the City of Ithaca's Beautification Program. Purple cone, thyme, sage, columbine, painted daisies, astilbe, feather reed grasses, and many many more.
Ten neighbors shared the labor, including veterans of the bulb planting day in Bryant Park ten years ago, a parks comissioner, avid park users, a local landscape architect, and an entire family with two children. First shovels and trowels were taken to the grass to remove it from the soil. Plants were sunk down and watered, bare earth covered with mulch. We'll be watering this patch with our own strongarm power, until plants can send roots deep enough into the earth to uptake the water they need.
The idea to plant in Bryant Park sparked an interest in the neighborhood association. Many more ideas were generated than could be accomplished in one day. Considerable discussion has led to a long-term Master Plan for Bryant Park that includes a promenade walk to open the space to walkers, a brand new fence along the 366 corridor and gates to allow more flexibility in space utilization. Longer term vegetation ideas include lilac, dogwood, summersweet, and Japanese Andromeda. The Master Plan is being considered by the City of Ithaca Parks Commission for budgeting next year, although it may take several years of inclusion before the Master Plan is completed.
Another Park was planted today too:
Today, Columbia Hill Park was planted. 500 pounds of mulch was delivered to the park. One redbud tree with blossoms and two days of leaf growth was delivered. Along with ferns and geraniums. This park is a small corner park that marks a steep incline in the city, and the path through it is two sets of steep stairs, with a plateau walk in the middle, and a larger plateau at the top. The city installed two benches here for the event. City forester Andy Hillman organized planting four redbuds the previous week by a group of students. At Columbia Park, ten neighborhood volunteers arrived, including a family complete with very strong digging husband, avid gardener wife, and root pulling son, other avid gardeners, neighbors living literally across the street, and Andy Hillman's sweetheart. Intensive labor was called for: digging out roots and rocks to plant the tree, spreading mulch over Norway Maple Seedlings that have sprouted up in the thousands across the park, and planting two fern gardens.
The plan for Columbia Hill Park is for bulbs to be sunk into the mulched area in the Fall. This park offers valuable shade to the city, and to encourage the cool feeling during summer heat, more fern could be added. This park too, will be watered by hand if the rain is insufficient in the first month.
In order for this supplemental work to be done,
*the Parks Commission gave the initial approval for these two parks to have supplemental planting.
*Community Beautification Coordinator Chrys Gardener walked the parks and devised original suggestions for improvements and shared funding for purchase of plants.
*Neighborhood Associations were invited to participate, and the reaction was strong enough to encourage a complete transfer of power to those interested in participating in the event itself-decisions on how, where, and what to plant by group.
Spring is a lush time of year, and these parks are going to grow fast. I hope they draw people in, invite relaxation and mindfulness, offer place for many a game of pick-up ball or tag, and are a place that we can all practice sharing our space and ourselves.
