Great blue lobelia is one of several native flower species flourishing in the new prairie on the northern side of Ellis Park. (Submitted photo)
Ellis Park prairie takes root
- Published: September 27, 2024
It’s been a year of growth and abundance since a native prairie was established at Ellis Park last fall.
What was previously a continuation of the grassy perimeter around the pond, the new prairie — stretching across 4,500 square feet in the northern reaches of the park — is now a dappled patchwork of milkweed, aster, ironweed, coneflowers and other native flowers.
As previously reported in the News, the prairie was sown to help prevent some of the chemical and mineral runoff from the surrounding farmland from leaching into the pond, which over the last several years, has been beset with an algae problem that has threatened some of the pond’s aquatic life.
Propagating and establishing the prairie has been a joint, ongoing effort from village residents, the Village Environmental Commission, the Wildlife Habitat Community team as well as Village staff. Heralding the initiative has been villager and former commission member Catherine Zimmerman, who in speaking with the News this week, said that while the nascent prairie is growing strong, there’s still work to be done.
“Plants can really do amazing things,” Zimmerman said. “The whole goal is managing the runoff, and native plants and their long roots are great at capturing pollutants.”
To that end — that is, improving the quality and efficacy of the Ellis Park prairie — Zimmerman is hosting a volunteer work day on Saturday, Sept. 28, 9-11 a.m. The mission: yank out some of the returning grasses to give the native flowers room to grow.
Village resident and horticulturist Catherine Zimmerman invites all to help her tidy up the recently established native prairie at Ellis Park on Saturday, Sept. 28. The purpose of the 4,500-square-foot prairie — established last fall — is to capture some of the chemical and mineral runoff from adjacent farmland before it reaches the pond, thus leading to further proliferation of algae. (Submitted photo)
The weeding event, held in the northern reaches of the Village-owned, 17-acre Ellis Park is in observation of National Public Lands Day, Zimmerman said.
“And of course, we’ll be weeding by hand — all organic,” Zimmerman added, encouraging attendees to bring their favorite trowels, hand rakes, gloves and other nonchemical weed-fighting implements.
According to Zimmerman, a certified horticulturist and landscape designer, new prairies typically take three years to get fully established. While the first year of the prairie got off to a rocky start — and with the pond still riddled with algae — she noted that continual weeding of the invasive knotgrass, bearded beggarticks, poison hemlock, bindweed, ragweed and other grasses is imperative as the prairie moves into its second year.
For her part, Zimmerman said she’s spent more than 60 cumulative hours over the last year tediously hand-weeding and spraying vinegar-based solutions on the stubborn invasives; she’s weed-whacked, used a small flamethrower and more — all to tamp back the encroaching grasses. All that work hasn’t been for naught, she said.
“People are really starting to take notice,” Zimmerman said of the blooming plants. “Folks walking their dogs around the park will stop and tell me how good the prairie is looking. That’s always nice to hear.”
Should village residents be unable to attend Saturday’s weeding day, Zimmerman encouraged folks to donate to the Lance Jordan Friends of Ellis Pond Fund.
Named after the late Lance Jordan, an area resident and biology teacher who died in 2021, and spearheaded by the Environmental Commission, the fund aims to generate money to continually improve and steward Ellis Park — especially, and most pertinently, in providing Zimmerman and other prairie stewards with the necessary resources to quell runoff from the adjacent farms. The Friends of Ellis Pond Fund is managed by the Yellow Springs Community Foundation.
As Environmental Commission Chair Alex Klug previously told the News: “Proceeds from the fund will go to relevant ecological, aesthetically pleasing improvements to the space, and may include educational opportunities in the future. [It] will be used to support ongoing maintenance needs that exceed Village capacity, and to educational signage and volunteer projects.”
To donate to the Lance Jordan Friends of Ellis Pond Fund to support ongoing efforts to quell runoff and improve the prairie and pond, go to http://www.bit.ly/3ZAaw6q. To learn more about Saturday’s volunteer efforts to weed the prairie, contact Catherine Zimmerman at catherinezimmerman@yahoo.com. The volunteer event is 9–11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28.
*The author of this article is a member of the Village Environmental Commission.
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