After nearly 18 months of research, analysis, and planning, three University of Michigan graduate students delighted onlookers who came to watch the trio unveil the newly-developed master plan for Clarkston’s Depot Park.
The students, all Master’s of Landscape Architecture candidates at the UM School of Natural Resources and Environment, were recruited by the Clarkston Watershed Group in spring 2007.The plan’which serves as a master’s thesis for the students? combines ecological design with aesthetics to create an ‘ecological showcase.?
‘They did an outstanding job,? said Clarkston Mayor Sharron Catallo, who attended the presentation. ‘I hope they’ll come back in a few years and see some of these ideas implemented in the park.?
The master plan included designs for city office and grounds improvements, tall grass and mown areas, and improved planning for memorial areas.
Students also discussed converting to porous path surfaces, and installing a wave garden on the hillside space located on the park’s east side.
The garden would showcase large swaths of carefully selected native plants and interpretive signage along the pedestrian pathway.
‘The wave garden is designed in large drifts of native perennials,? said Susie Mattke-Robinson, one of the students. ‘The long ribbon of native perennials in large beds will serve as showcases, teaching about beauty of native plants by seeing them in a mass of bold forms and colors.?
Planting the sloping hillside with native species, the students said, includes ecological benefits such as preventing erosion, promoting rainwater infiltration, and inspiring visitors to use native species in their own backyards.
Other plans included designs for a woodland wildflower garden, as well as recommendations for expanded and additional rain gardens.
The current rain garden near city offices is overwhelmed by storm water runoff, the students said, and should be expanded to slow rainwater. If unchecked, it deposits pollutants and sediments into the millrace and wetland.
Depot Park is already suffering the negative impacts associated with unchecked runoff, and overall neglect, the students said.
Wetlands, making up 35 of 39 acres of the park site is filled invasive, non-native plants that threaten fragile aquatic ecosystems.
‘Currently in Depot Park we have phragmites and cattails,? said Stephen Layton, another member of the group. ‘It’s really in poor health now, but with a lot of hard work by 2030 we feel Depot Park could have a beautiful vibrant wetland with exciting plants, boardwalks and everything else that comes along with it.?
Another problem, they said, is a ‘wonderful clearing bordered on three sides by cottonwoods with an excellent view out over the wetland towards Deer Lake.?
This space is currently being used as a dumping ground for municipal storage, and contains excess wood, mechanical equipment.
‘The use of this space as a dump detracts from the overall appearance of the well-maintained park and contributes to the perception of this clearing as a hazardous location,? the students wrote in the executive summary of their plan. ‘To correct the problem, a lengthy process, the students discussed ideas for wetland restoration Tactics, millrace and streambank stabilization a wetland overlook, and a wetland boardwalk.
The students also planned ecological modifications to the parking lot to handle rainwater more responsibly.
‘The parking lot is on a really steep slope toward the millstream,? said UM student Eric Bauer, who is also a Clarkston High School graduate. ‘Whenever it rains, you have all this water collected rapidly and sent right into the millrace. Just the sheer volume of water creates erosion, but it also collects break dust, oil and other things coming from cars. You’ve got a ton of water rushing down and tearing things apart, but also adding pollution to the water.?
Several techniques, such as new rain gardens and a covered infiltration trench, they said, would improve the parking lot and allow for the planting of trees.
Trees in the parking lot, said Bauer, have more than ecological benefit.
‘The tree canopy makes a better experience,? he said. ‘The parking lot it is the gateway for park use, and the impression you’re going to make on people starts here.?
Clarkston Watershed co-chair Jim Brueck said the new master plan ‘rejuvenates the engines and gets things going again.?
‘They really created a visionary plan for Depot Park, which is exactly what we were looking for,? he said. ‘This will allow people to take ideas back to their own neighborhoods and their own homes; when you’ve done that, that’s when you know you’ve had an impact.?
Brueck said the watershed group will now focus priorities on identifying service groups and fundraising ideas.
Now that the final project is complete, the students will head in separate directions’Mattke-Robinson, who calls Boston her home, has a fellowship lined up in the UK, where she’ll teach and work in different botanical gardens.
Layton plans to spend the summer in Baltimore, then he and his wife will head to Northern California, where they’ll build a yurt on a parcel of land in the redwood forest. Layton said he’ll look for work with an ecological design firm, or possibly strike out in partnership with his wife, who is in the same line of work.
Bauer will continue his mission to land a great job while he spends the summer working at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor. Bauer said he’d like to stay in Michigan, but will ultimately go where his work takes him’hopefully near water or mountains.