Our choices in landscape plantings have an impact far downstream
By Nichole Schill, Naturalist
Parks are places we can go to stretch our legs and recharge our spirits — but they’re also living, outdoor classrooms where we can see and learn new things. An important aspect of Medina County Park District’s mission is to model nature-friendly landscaping ideas almost any property owner can put into practice.
In 2014, the park district was awarded a $2,500 grant from the Ohio Environmental Education Fund to install a small native planting and a series of educational panels at Carolyn Ludwig Mugrage Park. This park is ideally situated on the continental divide that separates the watersheds of the Lake Erie Basin and the Ohio River Basin. After five growing seasons, the flowers and shrubs produced their best and most colorful display yet, putting a spotlight on the benefits of native vegetated buffer strips for wildlife habitat, ecosystem health and water quality.
At Medina County Park District, we recognize our role and our residents’ roles in clean water for Ohio and all who share the Great Lakes. Medina County has the potential to have great impacts on improving water quality because we are located within two watersheds. All water flows downstream. A watershed is the area of surface water features (runoff, rivers and streams) that all drain to a larger body of water. In the northern and western parts of the county, water flows downstream to Lake Erie (and ultimately to the Atlantic Ocean) and in the southeastern part of the county, water flows downstream to the Ohio River (and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico).
Storm water from Medina County has a long journey before it goes to either watershed basin. At Mugrage, storm water is first intercepted by this buffer on its way to the park’s recreational fishing pond. The deep roots of native plants function as a giant water filter, slowing erosion and the movement of excess sediment and nutrients. The healthy pond inhabitants are the first tangible impacts the buffer has on water quality within this community.
We seek both to connect our residents to nature and to serve as an example for how the community can incorporate best-management practices. The interpretive panels explore further concepts of native vegetation vs. non-native and invasive plants, the role of pollinators and host plants in the life cycle of native wildlife, the function of a watershed, and the ability of vegetation to filter storm water and stabilize soils. We encourage you to visit Mugrage throughout the seasons for inspiration for your own planting. The small strip of native plants is located on the slope adjacent to the sledding hill and can be admired from the paved multi-purpose trail. The visibility of wildlife, butterflies and birds utilizing the native planting should encourage property owners to consider similar plantings. The dual beauty and function will be attractive to homeowners, businesses and community areas. Beauties like cylindric blazingstar, black-eyed Susan, and Indiangrass have root potential between six and 15 feet deep. While the wildlife will enjoy the food and shelter benefits above ground, the roots work below taking up water and nutrients.
The utilization of a vegetated buffer strip to intercept storm water is a concept we believe can easily be adopted by anyone. If others follow, many small contributions to the watershed and ecosystem health will be part of a greater contribution across the county. Together we can enlighten public perceptions about native species and the importance of protecting watersheds to evolve into a more responsible ethic for landscape development and management for all.
