Large Public Spaces Require Bold Plantings
For the last few years the plantings downtown have been spectacular. They have not been little tiny fragile flowers. Instead they have been large & bold — commanding attention from far away, drawing the visitor in to get a closer inspection.
Planning planting beds for expansive public spaces viewed from different angles requires a different approach than what you might do at home in front of the foundation.
A fews years back I met the guy responsible for the annual plantings along Market, in Kiener Plaza, in front of and on City Hall and so on. Unfortunately his name and the name of the organization escapes me. Well, kudos!
I hope to enlist the help of the group responsible for these plantings to help with efforts in Lucas Park next Spring. We don’t need minuscule pansies or marigolds. We need seriously large plants such as these. We don’t need a large variety, a few well placed planting beds and perhaps a few containers would do the trick.
What needs to be determined is if we have enough gardeners among the loft dwellers to plant & maintain some beds like these. I think it is possible. This can accomplish a couple of things — create a beautiful sunken garden in Lucas Park while perhaps also giving downtown residents a place to practice their green thumb.
I’m collecting images such as these to show at the upcoming Design Charrette for Lucas Park on Monday November 17th. While I’m talking to these folks I need to see if they can do something with the medians along 18th near Union Station and Truman Parkway near Ameren. That bare dirt & weeds scheme just isn’t cutting it anymore.
…and blocking sight lines when attempting to turn left on Market. But seriously, they are beautiful.
I’m now landscaping in front of my rehab and want to only plant low-maintenance, low-water perennials. Partly to be responsible with water consumption and partly because my place gets zero shade. This is apparently known as xeriscaping and is a hot topic in water-starved regions of the country. Google “xeriscape perennials” for some interesting pics. I’ve now got a list of including lamb’s ears, coreopsis, lavender, decorative blue fescue, stonecrop and all succulents, etc. Since I got all obsessed with this topic, I’ve noticed xeriscape perennials dominate all the public plantings. Makes sense given our July-August temps. My favorite info site is http://www.highcountrygardens.com. They also sell plants, but I’m growing most from seed or cuttings from friends. BTW, planting succulents is also known as firescaping. If you’ve got enough succulents around your place you can apparently even stop a wildfire.
Gateway Greening does the downtown planting, through their Urban Roots initiative:
http://www.gatewaygreening.org/UrbanRoots.asp
Gwenne Hayes-Stewart is the person to contact at Gateway Greening: gwenne@gatewaygreening.org
If you ever need trees (esp. Missouri natives), you can apply for a grant through Missouri Forest ReLeaf:
http://www.moreleaf.org/
St. Louis is not a drought prone area. We are lush and semi tropical! Look at the urban oasis at the Botanical Gardens!
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And water is not one of our shortages – we’re at the confluence of the two greatest rivers in the nation. Our domestic water is not even metered! Take that sunbelt! 🙂
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Plant bold, water consuming, leafy, big stuff and save the drought tolerant stuff for drought prone areas.
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St. Louis needs to maximize her natural assets, and the ability to grow plants is one of our greatest opportunities.
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/meritabout.asp
Northside Neighbor: Exactly!
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I have a friend from Los Angeles once asked me to name one reason why St. Louis could be a better place to live than California. I said, “well, remember how you told me several times a year you have droughts out there, and your civic leaders beg the population to take short showers, no longer than 5 minutes? Well, someday St. Louis will be building a water pipeline out west and fresh water will be the new oil.”
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I love those pictures of plants. I hope Steve gets some planted in Lucas Park!
I agree. We don’t need to conserve water as much. Areas with shortages, meaning they potentially shouldn’t be so populated, must levy technology in order to support such sprawl. So we have desalinization, etc. We shouldn’t waste water, but there’s no reason to forgo plants which need watering. The irony of conserving water when one is a mile or less from the Mississippi!
Dole-
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Point taken, but then in the next breath, your friend says something like, “Yeah, but how can you stand the weather!!??? I could never stand that humidity!!!”.
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And snow! What about snow? How do you survive!!!!
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What do I say to them? Growing up in places with no snow to play in (read LA), is a childhood robbed of countless fun experiences and great memories.
Thanks for the pics. Those plants really are excellent. If we could do something in other places of the city, it would be awesome!
The St. Louis Master Gardeners would be interested in meeting and talking with any of the Downtown Residence who are interested in doing some planting. We are part of the Urban Roots Downtown Planting Project and assist in the initial installation and then the on going Summer maintenance of the plantings. It is Fun! We would welcome you to join us. Please contact us if there is interest in being involved with Urban Roots or other type gardening projects.