A first glimpse of a proposed plan for the restoration of City Meadow was presented Tuesday night to the Friends of the Meadow Committee by Beth Roemaker of Meadowscapes, a division of Matt’s Landscaping of Falls Village.
Roemaker had conducted a botanical survey of the meadow, which had become overgrown with invasives, and taken an inventory of the plants there before putting “the puzzle pieces together to make a plan,” she said.
The center of City Meadow is a marsh, intermingling with a wet meadow that transitions up the basin to upland meadow and woodland. The marshland is wet all year as opposed to the wet meadow, which is dry for periods. The plan proposes a transition from woodland to wetlands with plantings that highlight a diversity of shrubs.
Over the summer, Matt’s Landscaping and Native Habitat Restoration of Stockbridge, Mass., mowed woody shrubs and cut invasive phragmites and non-native cattails. Herbicides were applied, but subsequent applications are needed.
Areas of mugwort will be removed next spring and “something vigorous that does well with all conditions” will be planted in its stead.
Roemaker predicted it would take three seasons to subdue the invasives and establish native plants. “We want to create legibility in a defined ecosystem, a sense of calm,” she said. “Now it feels a little chaotic.”
She wants to “to make a beautiful spot to invite people to walk down into it” using native plants with long bloom times. Included in the plan is a bird habitat corridor.
Few plantings would take place directly in the marsh. “We don’t want to plant in a super-delicate ecosystem,” Roemaker said, adding that boxes along the boardwalk could be used to introduce plants. “They are easier to maintain and can seed into the marsh,” she explained.
If the plan is accepted, at least three years of post-project maintenance will be needed to keep invasives from regrowing. “We would really keep an eye on resurgence and keep an eye on our plantings, but, because City Meadow is a basin, there’s always going to be some maintenance,” she said.
Planting costs over three seasons are estimated at $304,220. Three years of maintenance is estimated to cost $33,600. A private donor has provided $110,000 to help with the restoration.