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| This map is at the southeast entrance to the Lagoon Park |
Minutes from the Lagoon Park - June 15, 2013
We were a group of 23 people enjoying a beautiful SUNNY day
at Lagoon Park
with Jim Engel and Stephen Lewandowski sharing information about the
restoration happening at the Lagoon
Park along Lakeshore Drive in
Canandaigua.
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View of island from gazebo. Dead trees make great perches
for eagles in search of prey.
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Stephen Lewandowski of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed
Association
http://www.canandaigualakeassoc.org/
gave us a history of the Lagoon Park which was the site of Roseland Park
between 1925 and 1985.
He recalls that
the Pacemaker train ran on the Lagoon
Park property.
After Roseland
Park closed, topsoil was moved from the
Lagoon Park property to develop the current
lakefront.
The city acquired this old
drainage way of Canandaigua Lake in 1989 and
redeveloped it with a trail system.
The vegetation
was left to be a natural park.
In 2007
the City of Canandaigua
upgraded the trail system with the current wooden bridges, fishing stations, gazebo,
and other wooden structures.
The vegetation
was again left in a natural state which has many benefits but also becomes vulnerable
to plants not native to this area.
Through
the years the native species have been choked out by invasive or exotic species
of plants.
As the native plants decrease
the insects, birds, and animals that rely on those native plants also decline.
Although the Lagoon
Park is an outlet and not part of the
Canandaigua Lake watershed, the CLWA has partnered with the Canandaigua
Botanical Society to help Jim Engel restore the Lagoon Park
vegetation to what it might have been 140 years ago when the Canandaigua
Botanical Society was formed.
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| View of restored area from north side of east bridge |
The goal of the restoration project is to remove
as many invasive/exotic species as possible and replant with several native
species.
Exotic or invasive, non-native species have no pests and
grow without competition displacing native flora and the fauna that depend on
them. As an example, if the beavers
can’t find food and shelter here at the park they will look elsewhere like the nearby
landscaped yards and parks. The growth
of invasive species shades out everything else creating an unnatural
monoculture.
The problem with Buckthorn: (http://www.outbacknursery.com/buckthorn.htm)
Why is Buckthorn so invasive?
*They have a growing season 58 days longer than our native plant species.
*Their seeds can lay dormant in the soil for six years.
*Their seeds and fruit contain allelochemicals that inhibit native
vegetation growing nearby.
*Their seeds can germinate in full sun or shady locations.
*Buckthorn seeds can float on water for a week and remain viable.
*They have no natural predators.
*Buckthorn re-sprouts vigorously after basal pruning.
Reasons to remove buckthorn:
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| A Buckthorn (center) that hasn't been destroyed yet. |
Buckthorn kills native plants! Native plants cannot naturally compete with
Buckthorn. Buckthorns are found in many forest understories, wetlands, prairies
and river valleys. Native plants are our songbirds’ natural food source. When
Buckthorn is all that remains, the birds eat the Buckthorn berries.
Buckthorn kills songbirds! When native plants
disappear from an area where Buckthorn is dense, birds eat the berries of
Buckthorn. However, the fruit of Buckthorn causes a severe, laxative reaction
in the birds. If Buckthorn berries are the only source of berries in an area, the
birds will eat the berries and excrete repeatedly until they become dehydrated
and weak.
Jim Engel took us for a stroll to show us what work has
already been accomplished through the volunteer labor of city officials, Boy
Scouts, FLCC, CLWA, Botanical, and community members. The restoration project
basically involves destroying the invasive species and re-establishing native
species with seeds or plants.
Jim shared these lists of the exotic plants that are here
and potential native replacements.(to be updated soon)
Invasive species
to limit:
Buckthorn,
crabapple, honeysuckle, multirose, privet, phragmites
Species planted:
American
elm, American Chokecherry, Arrowwood Viburnum, Bayberry, Black Chokeberry, Bush Honeysuckle,
Elderberry, Joe Pye weed, covers root, boneset, Spice bush,
Winterberry,
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| Jim identifies many of the new plantings |
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| cleared area - mulched and replanted |
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| Brush left to compost |
Jim estimates that one third of the park has been restored
with native plants and that half of the invasive species in the park have been destroyed
as the southeast entrance to the park was most infested with exotics and is
where most of the work has been done. He pointed out that there are parts of
the park that have mulch piles and some where there is brush. Jim did work on the 2 ½ acre island where he
seeded instead of planted at a lower cost.
The 2 ¾ acres of pathways are being planted with trees, shrubs and
herbaceous plugs. Over time it will be
interesting to compare how the re-establishment proceeds under varying
conditions of brush versus mulch and seed versus plantings.
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| Stephen came prepared with clippers to remove even more invasives |
Due to the excess rain this past week many of the plants
were in standing water.
Jim explained that it’s sometimes difficult to know where to
plant the right plant in the right location.
It was remarkable to
see how much of the ground was cleared as a result of destroying the invasive
species. Just the Buckthorn covered so
much of the park that native species did not have enough light to survive.
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| Most of the surviving native species are along the trail's edge where sunlight was able to reach them. |
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| The group continues on past the restoration sites to see what more needs to be done. |
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| Steve and Jim at the bridge - center park |
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Look what I found on the internet:
I found this on facebook: THANKS to Mark Skipworth
This bridge carried the Roseland
train over the lagoon. It remained after the train ride was removed, and was
still there in 1990 (5 years after the park closed) when Mark Skipworth took
this picture. Notice the ties are still on it, but no rail. The City took it
down in the late 90's when they revamped the area to how it looks today.
Here's a short video from our walk thanks to Scott Pukos of Messenger Post News:
http://www.mpnnow.com/multimedia/popularvideo/x871005644/An-update-on-the-Lagoon-Park-restoration-project#axzz2WccvbzXU
