Urban EcoStewards Celebrate a New Year – A Winter Gathering

You know what’s better than a Winter Gathering to kick-off the 2013 Urban EcoSteward training year? A snow-covered Winter Gathering complete with a one-mile hike in Schenley Park! Around 35 dedicated park stewards signed up for the event on Saturday, January 26. The Urban EcoStewards represented a variety of organizations including the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, Frick Environmental Center, Allegheny Cleanways, Allegheny Land Trust, and Nine Mile Run Watershed.

Wintry Schenley Park

Tufa Bridge in Schenley Park

The day started with lunch at the Schenley Park Café and Visitor Center which was restored by the Parks Conservancy in 2002. Rumor has it, Patty’s Smoked Mac and Cheese was the big hit of the day! After a brief overview of the participating organizations, the day continued with a celebration of 2012 successes and what the EcoStewards have to look forward to in 2013.

Urban EcoSteward celebration at the Schenley Park Cafe and Visitor Center

The group then bundled up and strapped on their snow boots for a one-mile hike around the Lower and Upper Panther Hollow Trails.

Headed down for a snowy hike through Schenley Park

Looking up at Panther Hollow Bridge from the Hollow

Led by Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Education Program Coordinator, Taiji Nelson, the group discussed winter tree identification, soil erosion, and emerald ash borer along the way.

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Education Program Coordinator, Taiji Nelson, explaining soil erosion to the EcoStewards

Lesson in destructive tree identification

The day ended with an overview of Phipps Run and Panther Hollow Watershed’s and restoration efforts being implemented in the area.

Hiking along Upper Panther Hollow Trail

Urban EcoStewards give back to their communities by adopting a specific section of park land that they agree to maintain. Stewards receive training from Parks Conservancy staff and other program partners and visit their site throughout the year to remove invasive species, plant native flora, slow erosion, and clean up trash. EcoStewards report to a coordinator, who will accompany them on at least one site visit per year to determine maintenance needs.

If you’re ready to take on your own little piece of the park, sign-up for our next training date on our Urban EcoSteward webpage. For more information, please contact our education department at 412-682-7275 ext. 232 or volunteer@pittsburghparks.org.

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Every little bit helps – a volunteer extravaganza

Upper Panther Hollow Trail

As a member of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy staff who spends most of my time behind a desk, I wistfully watch as my colleagues – whom I affectionately call “the nature people” – march out the door each day to interact directly with our parks and the people who love them. Our office is at times a strange place, the convergence of the printers, faxes, and cubicles with post pounders, shovels, and fountain fixtures. I have gone to the kitchen to retrieve a second (or third) cup of coffee to find our Education Coordinator contemplating the storage of invertebrates gathered from a stream in Frick Park in our office refrigerator. Right next to my left-over chicken and rice.

Working in our development department, I get to meet a lot of passionate people at our fundraising events, and I have the opportunity to thank people for their generosity when they make the choice to give to us financially. I fervently advocate for our cause to improve the quality of life for the people of Pittsburgh through parks restoration in partnership with the City. It is not every day, however, that I get to dust off my Keens and stand shoulder to shoulder with the volunteers who contribute something equally as valuable – their time. It is rarer still that I have the beautiful experience of seeing how it all connects.

Volunteers clearing a landslide on Panther Hollow Stream Trail

One such day was Saturday, October 20^th when we held our third annual Panther Hollow Extravaganza. The volunteer day is our largest, and an integral part of our plan to restore the Panther Hollow Watershed and eventually, Panther Hollow Lake. The clouds hung dark and heavy with promise for rain, but our 200 volunteers were unshaken. “The nature people” moved quickly throughout the crowds, buzzing with the excitement of what the day would accomplish – what all these helping hands would mean for Schenley Park. Before the day was done, the volunteers would plant 125 trees, cut down hundreds of invasive vines, and clear a portion of a once impassable park trail. I was among these volunteers, eager to help and to learn.

Volunteers cutting invasive vines

I quickly found Parks Conservancy horticulturist, Angela Yuele, and joined her group on the Upper Panther Hollow trail cutting invasive porcelain berry vines away from trees.  Angela gave us the loppers and gloves we would need to get the job done as well as a lesson in tool safety, demonstrating how the loppers should be used, held, and carried. She explained that porcelain berry is overtaking this section of the park and that as it winds its way up into the trees, it threatens their growth. Before we stepped off the trail and into the brush, Angela had one more thing to say. “Thank you all so much for coming,” she said. “By working in the park today you are part of a much bigger picture. Every little bit you do makes a difference.”   

We spent hours hacking away at those vines, surrounded by foliage in kaleidoscopic fall color. When we emerged back onto the trail – picking the burrs from our hair – it felt as though we had in fact made a difference. As a writer, I am infatuated with stories. I love to discover a stranger’s character or learn what led them to stand right here, on this trail, with me. And so I began asking my fellow volunteers what compelled them to donate their day to the park. I found myself talking to a woman and her elementary-aged son, both of whom seemed very comfortable with our activity. They had both volunteered with us before, I learned. And then something unexpected…

Thalia and her son hard at work in Schenley Park

“We love all the parks, but we just donated a tree to Highland Park,” the mother (whose name I learned was Thalia) said. I stopped dead in my tracks. Though we had never met, I had been Thalia’s contact for months after she got in touch with us to have a tree planted in honor of her mother and father-in-law. We had e-mailed each other countless times and chatted on the phone more than once. We had carefully considered the options of tree type and location to pay tribute to two people she loves so dearly. I had thanked her, again and again, for choosing to give a gift that would benefit the park and all those people who use it. I felt as though I was meeting an old friend, but for the first time.

The Tulip Poplar tree that Thalia and her family donated to Highland Park

I am astounded by the generosity of all of our donors, but the dedication of Thalia’s family to our mission through donation and actively volunteering is something remarkable and special. Meeting Thalia and her son on that trail reminded me that even as a desk-dweller, I am part of the story of this organization and the good work we do. And more importantly, that none of us, nature person or desk-dweller, would be able to do what we do without the dedication of our enthusiastic supporters. How lucky we are to live in a city with such a spirit of generosity. Remember – every little bit you do makes a difference.

Kathleen Gaines is a Development Associate at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

If you’d like to support the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, consider making a donation, or join us for one of our volunteer days. Help us name our new smart phone app which will be released in summer of 2013.

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Pittsburgh’s Central Fire – Finding Common Ground through the World’s Green Spaces

As crowds of people slowly began filing into the Lighthouse at Chelsea Pier in New York City for the kick-off of the Greater & Greener International Urban Parks Conference, Peter J. Madonia of the Rockefeller Foundation remarked, “It’s like Woodstock for parkies.” A rumble of laughter filled the room and the largest urban parks conference in history was underway. Looking around the crowd, it was obvious this was more than just a few environmentally and community-minded folks getting together to gab about green spaces. The City Parks Alliance brought together over 850 people from 210 cities and 20 countries to participate in more than 100 workshops focusing on topics including environmental advocacy, development, and management. Experts in their fields from major organizations, foundations and government intermingled with people and small organizations committed to promoting the influence parks have on our communities.

Staff from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, City of Pittsburgh, Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, Riverlife and many other organizations attended the conference. Determined to not only gain new ideas, but to share success stories and strategies of how our urban parks have contributed to Pittsburgh being consistently named “most livable city” year after year. Keynote speaker, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, got the first full day of workshops started by discussing how parks have become a “powerful catalyst for community development.” This became one of the three overlying themes of the conference: community development, public health and future technological advancements. The conference slowly unveiled a more enlightened and deeper value for urban green spaces other than their beauty.

Public Art at The High Line

Community Development

The Parks Conservancy supports and promotes the environmental benefits of parks, but also focuses on the tremendous community and economic development that comes from urban green spaces. When an urban park is designed or restored, it creates a chain reaction in community development and overall quality of life. It creates jobs both in the implementation and maintenance process. Home values around the park increase while access to trails and open spaces for recreational activities enhance public health. All of these factors combine to increase economic growth for the community. It can be difficult to show citizens not living directly within city limits the advantages to urban development when they can feel so far removed from it. Mick Cornett, Mayor of Oklahoma City, is responsible for leading his city towards an undeniable rebirth and discussed the need to put money and effort into the city infrastructure to benefit the entire metro area. He stated, “ The quality of life in urban areas is directly connected to the quality of life in the suburbs. You can’t be a suburb of nothing.”

The High Line Zoo

A visit to The High Line in New York City revealed another unexpected perk to urban parks and community development.  Strolling down the restored elevated freight line that has been repurposed into a modern public green space on Manhattan’s West Side, you’ll be greeted by a gorilla, an amorous sailor and a portrait of a young Native American child to name a few. A menagerie of public art has popped-up along the buildings and open spaces lining The High Line, intertwining the worlds of nature and art into one harmonious story of city culture.

Digging in the dirt at the Frick Environmental Center

Public Health

Park and nature prescriptions were buzzwords used throughout the conference. Daphne Miller, M.D. discussed the “disease of the indoors” and the Health Care Provider Initiative being implemented through the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). The initiative educates health care providers on the importance of outdoor activity in the prevention of childhood obesity and diabetes, encouraging them to provide nature prescriptions in addition to traditional healthcare. “I think of parks as part of our healthcare system”, Dr. Miller said. United States Secretary of State Ken Salazar, who closed the conference, informed us that children only spend an average of four minutes outside a day. Access to parks and green space is an issue for children in some communities. Many have to walk through dangerous areas or cross highways to get to a park.  Dr. Miller discussed the idea of creating green corridors to connect parks throughout the community and provide “veins of access to green space” for children and others to safely enjoy the parks. The healthier we make our parks, the healthier the people of our community will become.

Playing tag in Highland Park

Technological Advancements

With the role parks play in the health of a society and way to get people outdoors, the topic of technology and the future of parks can often be a tricky subject to tackle. There’s no doubt that we are currently in the era of technology; however, there is still resistance to how technology can contribute to the park system and whether it belongs there at all. Many view the demons of video games, television, Internet, social media and smartphones as the antithesis to the mission of parks and the exact cause of what is keeping people holed up indoors. Garry Golden, Futurist and Founder of Forward Elements, Inc. spoke about the purpose of technology in the future of environmental infrastructure. “Technology doesn’t have to be at odds with simple design”, he explains. Workshop presenter Erin Barnes and her organization, ioby (In Our Back Yard), is a perfect example of how to incorporate technology with environmental advocacy. Ioby is an organization committed to bringing green initiatives to the local level by connecting people to fundraising resources via their website. It’s great to hear about organizations raising millions of dollars to fund environmental causes in the community, but this can at times seem inaccessible for smaller causes.  Ioby uses “crowd-resourcing” and “DIY activism” to empower the community to form their own small fundraising projects through their website.  On the ioby website you can search for projects using filters to discover the needs of a group and how you can get involved. Currently, there is an open project listed on the ioby website in the Pittsburgh community called the Homewood Agricultural Project. They are looking for both donations and volunteers for the project and it’s a great way to help out concerned citizens trying to better our community. Technology isn’t going anywhere, so many of us are embracing it to inform the public about parks and get people active.  The Parks Conservancy has welcomed technological advancements. We are currently developing a mobile app funded through a grant from UPMC Health Plan and the “Parks Are Free” campaign promoting use of the parks and public health within our own community.

Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza

Pittsburgh was well represented at the conference as presenters shared expertise in the field and highlighted successful restorations of our beautiful parks to their intended splendor. The Parks Conservancy Founder and CEO, Meg Cheever, served as a moderator for a workshop discussing the importance of public-private partnerships when developing and maintaining urban parks. Parks Curator, Susan Rademacher, sat on a workshop panel called, “People Over Cars” to discuss the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy campaign to restore a parking lot to its original purpose in the development of Schenley Plaza. Ilyssa Manspeizer, Ph.D., Director, Park Development & Conservation for the Mount Washington Community Development Corporation filled the crowd in on the “scrappy do-it-yourself ethos” that has helped transform a steep hillside in Mount Washington to the beautiful 280 acre Emerald View Park overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline.

Picnic in Schenley Park

Central Fire

As speaker after speaker discussed the role parks play in the development of a community, it was National Park Service Deputy Director of Communication and Community Assistance, Mickey Fearn that hit closest to home. He spoke of the “central fire where people used to come together to get warm, share stories and inspire and further community.” This immediately evoked images of our own Pittsburgh parks. Swirls of children sprinting to the playground on Schenley Overlook while families reunite at picnic tables. International students fresh off the plane meeting each other for the first time at the University of Pittsburgh international welcome picnic in Schenley Park. Neighbors who have never met swapping stories while their pooches splash mud at the off-leash dog area deep within Frick Park. High schoolers blushing as their parents embarrassingly take pictures of them at the Highland Park Entry Garden before they head-off to their Senior Prom. Our community coming together in our parks to share life and love, this is the central fire that has been burning in Pittsburgh for the past decade.

Holly Stayton is the eCommerce Development Officer for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. Learn more about how you can get involved with Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy on our website. Also, keep up-to-date on how the Pittsburgh Greenspace Alliance has joined together to promote and improve Pittsburgh’s green spaces.

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The Emerald City – How the Pittsburgh Parks Welcomed Me to My New Home

You would think, at thirty-something, telling your parents you’re moving over 800 miles away to Pittsburgh would be easier.  Being a close-knit, Midwestern family combined with the fact that I’m the baby, this was not the case.  I’ve spent my entire life listening to my dad’s stories of growing up in Pittsburgh.  How he painstakingly walked up steep hills ten miles one-way, typically in two feet of snow whether it was winter or not, wiping soot from his face just to get his mother some bread for dinner.  By this point in my life, the snow in his stories had gotten deeper, the hills steeper and he was barefoot carrying his little sister on his back. Though I knew my dad had a flair for the dramatic in his childhood tales, this was how I pictured Pittsburgh, black and cold.  My dad is a Marine and a retired Special Agent.  He’s tough.  So inevitably I predicted his hometown to be just as tough and wasn’t sure how I’d be able to find my place, but now it was my turn to create my own Pittsburgh story.

Schenley Overlook

My husband and I packed up our three-bedroom home, loaded the cats in the car and set out on our new adventure from Kansas City to Pittsburgh almost two years ago.  If I said the transition was smooth, I would be a big ol’ liar.  Though this would be the seventh state I’ve lived in, I’ve spent the past twenty-two years in a suburb of Kansas City.  It wasn’t incredibly exciting, but it was familiar and it was home.  We moved into a one-bedroom townhome that I swear, still to this day, is on top of one of the steepest hills in Pittsburgh.  Nothing looked familiar, I didn’t know how to get to work and I felt as though I was suffocating.

The entire first week in our new city, I was stricken with anxiety that we had just made the biggest mistake of our lives.  Not willing to let me just wither away, my husband coerced me into getting into the car and taking a drive to warm-up to the city.  We drove through Shadyside and made our way towards Squirrel Hill.  As the car climbed up yet another hill and rounded a wide corner, we found ourselves in an open park overlooking the city skyline.  I felt my lungs open and the tension melt as I stepped foot for the first time onto Schenley Overlook.  With the skyline smiling at me and nothing but emerald surrounding me, I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. This began my love affair with the Pittsburgh parks.

Clicking my heals through Frick Park

Elated to see what the other regional parks had to offer, it wasn’t long before I went on my first run through Frick Park.  I rounded my way down Braddock Trail passing over small wooden bridges and stone staircases feeling like I just stepped into my own personal enchanted forest.  The canopy of trees drizzled sunlight to illuminate my path along the way.  As I headed up the Falls Ravine Trail, every jogger I passed nodded with an out-of-breath smile, walkers said hello and playful pups trotted along without a care in the world.  No one knew I wasn’t an authentic Pittsburgher, nor did they seem to care.  We were all park lovers.  Like an underground society delivering our secret handshake as we passed one another, I was embraced like one of their own.

I quickly found my way to Schenley Park and onto Phipps Run Trail wanting to see if Frick Park was just a fluke or if my dad failed to mention the best part about Pittsburgh.  I ran longer than normal partly because I had to stop every two minutes to take a picture and post it to Facebook, but mostly because I couldn’t wait to see what was around the next corner.  There were less people on this trail, but the scenery wasn’t any less magical.  My feet propelled me forward past Panther Hollow Bridge overlooking Panther Hollow Lake towards Steve Faloon Trail.  I couldn’t believe this urban oasis was sitting in the middle of Pittsburgh.  Why were people not flocking to this city and more importantly, why had I waited so long to move here?  It was at that moment it hit me.  I was home.  These were my parks.  Not being able to make a choice between the two, I was able to work out a joint custody agreement between Frick and Schenley Park.  I see Schenley in the evenings after work and Frick on the weekend.  It’s worked out quite nicely with little to no jealousy between the two. 

I’m thrilled that I now have the opportunity to formally share my love of our parks through my role at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.  The parks have become my refuge.  They’re the backdrop to the stage I set when telling anyone about my new home.  I get it now when Carrie Bradshaw referred to The City as her best friend.  Frick and Schenley have become my closest confidantes and are always there even on my worst days.  Whenever the hustle and bustle of daily life gets to be too much, I know I can just head down to visit my friends in the park and pass along our secret handshake.  Pittsburgh…I think you’re stuck with me.

My new home

Holly Stayton is the new eCommerce Development Officer at Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.  She manages the overall online presence of the Parks Conservancy.  Her responsibilities include website content management and coordination of our blog, social media and e-newsletters.  She doesn’t understand why her office can’t be on a bench in the middle of Frick Park.

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Mary Schenley and the Making of Our Park System

By Susan M. Rademacher, Parks Curator, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Originally published in Squirrel Hill Magazine, Winter 2011 

Only two of our city’s four historic regional parks bear a family name.  Frick Park is named in tribute to Henry Clay Frick who, upon his death in 1919, gave 150 acres and an endowment to develop and care for a new park.  Frick Park is also a symbol of a father’s Iove for his daughter — Frick’s daughter Helen is reputed to have asked her father for the park property as a gift to the children of Pittsburgh.  This story is perhaps the better known of the two family-named parks, because the Frick home and museums at Clayton remain to embody the family’s presence and impact on Pittsburgh. 

Mary E. Schenley

Schenley Park, on the other hand, wouldn’t exist today if it weren’t for the forgiveness of a father in restoring his estranged daughter to her inheritance.   In what became the scandal of the day, Mary Elizabeth Croghan eloped at age 15 from her Long island boarding school with the headmistress’s 43-year-old brother-in-law, Captain Edward Schenley.  The newlyweds settled in London and Mary was promptly disinherited.  Her father, William Croghan Jr., couldn’t bear the break for long, visiting the young couple and the first of many grandchildren in London a year later in 1843.  His forgiveness is especially understandable, given that Mary was the widower’s only surviving child. 

William Croghan Jr., father of Mary Schenley

Croghan was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, at the fabled country seat Locust Grove.  His father was the Revolutionary War Quartermaster General William Croghan, married to the sister of General George Rogers Clark.    After the steamboat allowed passage upriver, Pittsburgh became a favored destination of Louisvillians.  It was on such an outing that William Croghan Jr. met the prosperous O’Hara family, marrying daughter Mary O’Hara in 1821. The couple started their family in Louisville with son William and daughter Mary Elizabeth born at Locust Grove on April 27, 1826.  That same year, William Croghan Jr. wrote his brother-in-law, “I am sick & tired of farming, incessant toil and anxiety & no profit….I am now firmly resolved so soon as my difficulties will allow to make arrangements for moving to Pittsburgh.”  Sadly, he would make that move as a widower, his wife Mary having died 1827.  In an 1828 letter from William’s sister Ann Croghan Jesup to her sister Eliza Croghan Hancock, Ann writes “Mr. Baldwin in Pittsburgh says Will Croghan is the finest boy he ever saw & Mary is a lovely child it did me good to hear him speak of those poor little children. Mary has quite recovered I sat up with her for two nights she was dangerously ill with Quinsy and inflammation on the Lungs.”  Young Will died only a month later. 

Picnic House

Father and daughter Mary Elizabeth soon moved to Pittsburgh to make a new life.  There, William Croghan Jr. was admitted to the Allegheny Bar.  And in August of 1833, Mary writes to her Aunty Lucy Jesup, “Next year Papa is to build his cottage.”  This fine Greek Revival-style home atop Stanton Heights was named Picnic House, and contained 22 rooms.  Croghan died at Picnic in 1850, but his will preserved the home and furnishings for the use of Mary and her children until 1931, when Mary’s daughter Hermione, Lady Ellenborough, sold the furnishings.  The house was demolished in 1955, and its grand ballroom and foyer were transplanted to the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning where they remain a major attraction.

Mary’s inheritance of O’Hara properties from her mother’s estate made her the largest property owner in Allegheny County.  Her Pittsburgh landholdings included slums at the “Point” and she was severely criticized as an absentee landlord and exploiter of the wretched by Pittsburgh’s Labor Tribune and the Chicago Daily Tribune in the late 1880s.  Her redemption came in philanthropic form.  Significant gifts to several important institutions helped shape the cultural, social, and physical landscape of Pittsburgh as we know it today.

Among her major gifts were:

• Land for building the West Penn Hospital;
• Property for the Western Penn Institute for the Blind;
• A large lot for the Newsboys Home;
• A $10,000 subscription toward the purchase of land for Riverview Park; and
• The gift of the Old Block House and adjoining property, (the original Fort Duquesne) to the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

While the City of Pittsburgh had been attempting to buy or take Schenley properties for an Oakland park since 1869, it wasn’t until 1889, after Captain Schenley died, that the land for Schenley Park was finally acquired.  It was through the enterprising efforts of the “Father of Pittsburgh Parks,” Edward Manning Bigelow (1850-1916), that Mary was persuaded to donate 300 acres, giving an option to buy another 100 acres.  Bigelow, named the first director of the new Department of Public Works, envisioned a park system for the city.  When he heard that a developer was heading to London to broker a deal with Mrs. Schenley, he promptly dispatched an attorney to get there first and secure a donation.   Mary had just two conditions: that the land be used for a park named after her and that it could never be sold.  The City soon purchased an additional 144 acres, including the present-day Schenley Plaza and part of the Carnegie Library for much less than its tax value.

Schenley's gift is memorialized in the Mary E. Schenley Memorial Fountain at Schenley Plaza.

Her invaluable gift is memorialized in the Mary E. Schenley Memorial Fountain at Schenley Plaza. 

Sculpted by Victor David Brenner, with the granite base by architect H. Van Magonigle, the memorial was entitled A Song to Nature and dedicated on Labor Day, September 2, 1918.   The memorial was restored and lit in 2008 by the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

When she died in 1903, the New York Times observed, “The death of Mrs. Mary E. Schenley, which occurred at her home in Hyde Park, London, was made known in Pittsburg [sic] to-day.  Mrs. Schenley has been Pittsburg’s benefactress for many years….Mrs. Schenley was the heroine, sixty years ago, of the greatest romance in Pittsburg’s early history….The affair created an immense social sensation at the time, and the house was preserved for many years in precisely the shape that it was in at the date of the elopement.”

Mary returned only once to Pittsburgh before her father’s death in 1850, and rarely after that.  As an asthmatic, the smoky city was not a healthy environment for her.  How fitting that our park system was created, in part, to improve the health of our people while changing the image of the city from gray to green.  Schenley Park, along with all the parks and greenspaces of Pittsburgh, has more than fulfilled that early promise, thanks in no small part to the spirited benefactress Mary E. Schenley.

Sources:
A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people, by John Newton Boucher; illustrated. Vol. 2.
Frick Fine Arts Library: Schenley Plaza, Schenley Park &Environs, Library Guide Series, No. 11.
Grove Gazette, Winter 2011.   Historic Locust Grove, Louisville, Kentucky.
“Fountain of Forgetting: Mary E. Schenley (1827-1903),” by Don Simpson, University of Pittsburgh.
Mandy Dick, “The Storyteller,” Clarksville, Indiana, 502-500-8899.
The New York Times, November 6, 1903.
The History of Pittsburgh: Its Rise and Progress, by Sarah Hutchins Killikelly.  B. C. & Gordon Montgomery Co., 1906: Pittsburgh, PA.

 

As Parks Curator, Ms. Rademacher preserves and promotes the cultural significance of the Pittsburgh parks.  Contact her at (412) 682-7275.

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Wintertime Planters Display Holiday Cheer

Planters serve as eye catching horticultural art displays most of the year, but during the winter months they are often left empty and sad. Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy gardener Angela Masters got tired of looking at vacant, dirt filled pots until spring, so she has created beautiful winter planter displays at Schenley Plaza and the Schenley Park Café and Visitor’s Center. Her designs are easy to emulate and require little maintenance for upkeep. Next time the family’s in town for the holidays you can show off your green thumb, even with snow on the ground.

Three tier groupings of plants create a full look.

When designing a planter (no matter what the season) Angela likes to use a three tier grouping. For the center of the planter she uses a tall, upright plant. Around this focal point she will put in a shorter upright plant, and along the outside of the planter she ideally likes to put in something that will hang over the edges.

The planters she has created at the Visitor’s Center are a perfect demonstration of this ideal grouping. The Red Twig Dogwood she has placed at the center of the planter creates the highest point of the design, as well as adding some holiday color to the display. Around that she has placed White Pine seedlings (with the fluffy looking needles) and Hemlock seedlings (yellowish in color), at the outside edge a Christmas Fern spills over the planter making the display look full and lush.

Blue Princess Holly surrounded by Bearberry

At Schenley Plaza, her planters display two plants, with a focus on the beautiful Blue Princess Holly in the center complete with bright red berries. Surrounding the Holly she has put in a groundcover called Bearberry.

These wintertime planters do more than just look good, they incorperate evergreens for us to put into the parks! Angela has deliberately chosen plants (with the exception of the Blue Princess Holly) that are native to our area so that when it comes time to change the planters to spring flowers, these seedlings can be transplanted to the natural wooded areas. “Using natives is a challenge because there are so many beautiful evergreens that I’d like to use, but we don’t want to be putting invasive plants into the parks,” says Angela.

Wintertime planters in front of The Porch Restaurant in Schenley Plaza

Maintenance of wintertime planters is easy breezy since you are using plants accustomed to the cold weather. “As long as the planter is in a place where it gets rained and snowed on, it will be fine,” says Angela. “If the planter is under an eve of your house or some other covering you may need to water it a little once in a while.” She does add that having the planter closer to a building (while not necessarily covered) will give it a better chance of survival by protecting it from harsh elements like cold wind.  

Your imagination is the limit when it comes to the design of a wintertime planter. You can decorate the planters a multitude of ways. Angela recommends looking for some dried materials like lotus pods and artichokes to add texture and color. You can find such things at craft stores and they can be spray painted in metallic shades to add a little bling to the display. If you really want to spruce them up for the holidays try adding some ribbon.

There are a multitude of evergreen plants that will work beautifully but a few of Angela’s favorites are various kinds of Junipers (there are varieties that stand upright and some that drape), Gold Thread Cypress, Dwarf Alberta Spruce, and the native Winterberry Holly.         

 

Kathleen Gaines is a Development Associate for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

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Take a Hike in Panther Hollow on June 30

Click on the map to see the path we're hiking through Panther Hollow.

This Thursday, June 30 is our next public meeting for the Panther Hollow Watershed Restoration project. But never fear, we’re not talking about a boring lecture. We’re taking a hike! We’ll meet up at the Schenley Park Cafe and Visitor Center at 6 p.m.

During this hike, we will be learning about and gathering feedback for pilot projects to restore the Panther Hollow Watershed.  The hike will happen rain or shine, so please wear sturdy walking shoes and bring rain gear if necessary.  Also and importantly, there will be a place to fill up a water bottle at the Schenley Park Cafe and Visitor Center, but then we will be in the park for two hours.  Please bring a refillable water bottle, there will not be bottles of water provided and the café will be closed. 

Check out the map of the path we’ll take on the walk. And if you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time. Visit pittsburghparks.org/pantherhollow to register.

 See you on Thursday!

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Panther Hollow Watershed Meeting a Success

Thank you to everyone who attended our first Panther Hollow Watershed Restoration community meeting on Monday, May 23 at Schenley Plaza. We gained valuable insight into the project from members of the surrounding Pittsburgh neighborhood, as they told us their stories about Panther Hollow and what it means to them.  We started the evening with our design team discussing the critical components and issues of both Panther Hollow and Phipps Run watershed.  Community members then split into three focus groups relating to water, land, and people within the watersheds.

The first focus group, hosted by Michele Adams of Meliora Environmental Design and others from the team, discussed water issues in the watershed. We learned about the 10% impervious surface (roads and sidewalks) in the park portion of the watershed and that stream degradation starts at 10%.  In addition there was discussion about combined sewer overflows that pollute our rivers.  Everyone also learned that infiltrating water during rain storms will fix these problems.  Attendees were then asked to share personal stories and address any of their concerns with the current state of any water within the surrounding area.   

The land focus group was led by Jose Alminana of Andropogon Associates and others from the team, who discussed aspects of the watershed’s landscape including the existing problems at the top of our watersheds that we need to fix.  They stressed that we need to be cautious of where we infiltrate water given our areas’ clay and shale soils, and that we should work where it makes sense - on concave pieces of land that currently have lawn on them.

Finally, in the people focus group, Ken Doyno and Kate Tunney of Rothschild Doyno Collaborative and others from the team highlighted the community character of the watershed, its vibrant business district, residential areas and institutions.  They also talked about the major events of the watershed.  Finally this team asked participants where they spend their time in the watershed. 

After each group had attended the three focus sessions, members from the team provided a summary of the community meeting, answered any remaining questions, and provided a picture of where the watershed restoration program is headed next.  

We’d love to have you join us at the next community meeting, Thursday, June 30 at 6 p.m. at the Schenley Park Visitor Center. We will embark on a walking tour of the watershed highlighting where pilot projects will be installed.  We need your input for these pilot projects and will ask attendees to help us decide what and where they should go. 

We will walk rain or shine, please bring good walking shoes!  To learn more about the project and to register for the next event click here.    

 

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Thanks to our Panther Hollow volunteers!

Taiji Nelson, our SCA Green Cities Fellow, offers a recap of Saturday’s huge volunteer event in Schenley Park:

Thanks to everyone who participated in the 2011 Panther Hollow Extravaganza Earth Day event!  We had a group of around 200 dedicated volunteers who, despite the rain, cold and mud, rocked it out for over 3 hours to complete much-needed ecological restoration work throughout Schenley Park and the Panther Hollow watershed. 

In total, volunteers:

• Planted over 100 native-species trees and shrubs and over 1,000 native-species wildflowers and grasses
• Protected over 200 trees by fencing, mulching and watering
• Tended to the gardens at the historic Schenley Park Cafe and Visitor Center
• Removed invasive species including garlic mustard, vining honeysuckle and grapevine from over 6 acres of park land
• Removed 50 bags of trash and recyclables, over 1,800 lbs of illegally dumped garbage, 43 tires, and 200 lbs of scrap metal

The work accomplished by volunteers is essential to mitigate excess storm water runoff; ensure the health and quality of our soil, water and air; promote biodiversity; and improve safety, aesthetics and usability of outdoor green space in the Panther Hollow Watershed.   The effort is greatly appreciated and is a benefit to all of Pittsburgh.  Once again, thank you and I hope to see you at the 2012 Panther Hollow Extravaganza!

Check out a slideshow of images from Saturday below (photos by John Altdorfer):

The 2011 Panther Hollow Extravaganza is a partnership of Allegheny Cleanways, Oakland Planning and Development Corporation, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, the Student Conservation Association, and Tree Pittsburgh.  Thank you to the event sponsors, Aramark, Cabot Cheese, Chipotle, REI, Starbucks and Target, and to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, City of Pittsburgh, Department of Public Works, Pennsylvania Resources Council (Zero Waste Pittsburgh), Phipps Conservatory and all of the Volunteer Crew Leaders. 

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Upcoming Lectures: Butterflies and Water

We’ve got two new FREE lectures on the schedule for spring at the Schenley Park Café and Visitor Center.  At both talks, experts on particular areas of the park will share details that will give you a deeper appreciation of how everything is tied together ecologically. 

Water Flow in Schenley Park
Wednesday, April 27, 12:00 – 1:00pm

Water flowing down steps in Panther Hollow after a storm

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is embarking on a watershed planning process for the 780-acre Panther Hollow Watershed.  In order to improve the green infrastructure of the watershed and more effectively manage what comes through it, we first need to understand how the system currently works.  For the past several years, research teams have been tracking everything from how fast water flows in a thunderstorm to how many bugs are present in the wetland areas.

Dan Bain, PhD, Professor in the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Geology and Planetary Science, will give a talk with Kristina Hopkins about monitoring water flow in Schenley Park.  This research will provide a basis for determining how to make water flow more naturally through the watershed.  Because the watershed encompasses a densely paved urban area, water does not flow as it would in a purely natural setting.  At this talk, you can learn more about how it all works–and how it would work in an ideal world.

Image by Jeffrey Zablow

Butterflies of Schenley Park and the Panther Hollow Watershed
Wednesday, May 25, 12:00 – 1:00pm

Jeffrey Zablow has been documenting the butterflies of Schenley Park for several years, mostly shooting on film.  A naturalist and photographer with a passion for butterflies and wildflowers, Zablow will provide a truly up close and personal look at some of the creatures he’s encountered in the park.

Sign up for these lectures here.

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