Restoring the small meadow
In the center of the park, at the intersection of the Life Course main trail with the trail running from Beaconwood Road to the off leash dog park, is a small meadow. It is believed to have once been a farmer’s field, sitting opposite some large stones that may have been part of the foundation of a farm house.
In recent years, the meadow was overrun with Tree of Heaven (ailanthus), an invasive tree that can rapidly dominate a landscape and displace native plants. We have begun to restore native plants to the meadow, by removing the Tree of Heaven, allowing dormant native seeds to germinate, supplemented by native plant seeds that grow elsewhere in the park, and more obtained from reputable sustainable sources.
Native plants are crucial for native pollinators–butterflies and bees, birds and other insects–that support the entire ecosystem. Most insects are specialists that can only feed and reproduce on a single native plant or two. When those plants are displaced by invasives, insects decline and everything that feeds on them–birds, amphibians, reptiles and some mammals–also decline.
