Squire Park goes native for traffic island planting

Squire Park neighbors took advantage of a break in the spring rains to plant native wildflowers in the traffic island at the intersection of Manheim and Tracy this weekend.

Across Midtown, neighborhoods have stepped up to take responsibility for planting and maintaining traffic islands.

That’s true of the Squire Park neighborhood, which has taken on a traffic island at the intersection of Manheim and Tracy.

This year, the neighborhood is adding a new element to the landscaping – native Missouri plants

“The neighborhood has worked on the triangle for several years,” Roberta Vogel-Leutung said. “This year we got a grant from the Missouri Prairie Foundation to add native plants to the design that is already there.”

She’s hoping their new planting of native wildflowers will both be showy and reduce long-term maintenance efforts. The design maintains the semi-formal landscaping by using short, showy plants with a year-round appeal.

Carol Davit of the Prairie Foundation said the Squire Park planting can also demonstrate how natives can be used in a public venue.

“We want to promote the use of nursery-propagated prairie plants in the built environment,” she said.

The foundation’s grant and matching founds from the Missouri Department of Conservation  allowed Squire Park to put in 300 new plants.

Prairie dropseed, oak sedge, coneflowers, golden rod, and fall-blooming asters are some of the plants you can watch grow in the Squire Park prairie garden.

 

 

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