Work Plan for Shrub Replacement in Memorial Park
Project Authorization Application approved by the
New Jersey Historic Preservation Office June 2022
The Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy, in partnership with the Township of Maplewood, developed a comprehensive 5 year plan for shrub replacement to restore, maintain, and enhance the aging shrub layer of our historic park. The Shrub Replacement Plan was approved by the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office in June of 2022. Excerpts from the plan can be viewed below and the full plan can be found here. Since approval, the Township and the Conservancy planted 245 shrubs, 15 perennials and 23 trees based on this report.
Shrub Replacement Master Plan
Maplewood Memorial Park was designed and constructed approximately 100 years ago by the firms of Olmsted Brothers and Brinley & Holbrook, primarily in a picturesque landscape style. Additionally, Richard Walter, Superintendent of Parks and Shade Trees from 1935 to 1970, installed numerous more unusual species of trees and plants during his long tenure, adding a special botanical element to the park as well. Today, the park is a well-loved and heavily used greenspace, providing a place for respite as well as a central space for various recreational activities and events. In 2017, the Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy was formed to partner with the Township of Maplewood to ensure that this historic treasure is properly maintained by undertaking a careful assessment of its needs, and making plans and executing projects for its restoration and enhancement. Among other initiatives, projects in the last few years have restored a landscaped border based on original Olmsted Brothers plans (Flagpole Hill Restoration, Project 18-0582) and provided a multi-year plan to restore the tree canopy (Tree Replacement Plan 20-0919-2).
This current application is for a plan to restore and enhance the shrub plantings in the park, which are an important part of the original design: The park was to be lushly planted and included shrubs for structure, different textures, and seasonal beauty. As is true of the tree canopy, time, the elements, and other factors have reduced the shrub plantings in the park. In addition to attrition, over the past years, shrubs have been removed for various reasons: infrastructure work, in particular on the river banks, may have necessitated shrub removals; shrubs planted around trees were removed when trees died and machinery was put into place to cut down the tree; and tree removals created changes in light conditions that stressed plants and caused them to die. Weather events have also reduced the shrub plantings in the park: Some plants cannot tolerate the excessive heat we now experience as the climate warms. Periods of drought killed shrubs, and floods along the river bank, from Hurricane Ida, particularly, have washed plants away.
In the design and function of the park, shrubs have a key role. The demise of plants have created gaps in shrub beds that reduce the screening of the border and change the framing of elements which are important to the picturesque style of the park. Plants growing along the river bank are necessary for preventing erosion and help maintain the river walls. Therefore, we propose a shrub replacement plan for several areas in the park, concentrating on the river areas and borders, where many plants have died (Attachment 1) This plan for shrub replacement is intended to take five years, and consists of eleven individual projects.
There is no existing record of what shrubs from the original design were actually planted, or were lost during the park’s history, We can make an approximation of the original plan, however, using Brinley & Holbrook planting plans from 1927 and 1928 and the Olmsted Brothers’ Survey and Preliminary Plan, both from 1922 , (see Attachments 2, 3, 4 & 5), and a survey by the Richard Walter and the Maplewood Garden Club from the 1980’s (Attachment 6). We can also observe currently existing shrub patterns, draw from parkgoers’ memories and research species used by the same designers in other parks. Relying on the historic record and these other resources, appropriate shrubs were selected for each planting plan, with care taken to match the soil and moisture needs of the plant to the site. Landscape designer Jennifer C. Ryan, who has worked extensively in the park for several years, has performed this research and created this plan. See Attachment 7 for histories specific to each of the 11 planting sites proposed, with replacement strategies.
Plans are intended to be phased in and will take place during spring and fall planting seasons. Plants will be purchased as available and cultivars chosen that are best suited to the conditions of each location. Trees will be planted by the Department of Public Works, and shrub planting will be undertaken by members and volunteers of the Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy with the aid of the Department of Public Works. Best practices will be employed to ensure the survival of the new plants and planting will be delayed until the following season if the ideal conditions pass before they can be planted.
If additional shrubs or trees in each planned section are damaged or suddenly die and must be removed, they will be replaced with the same species as close as possible to the original location. As existing shrubs begin to show signs of decline, new plants of the same species will be planted proactively to replace them, accounting for the designer’s original intent.
The approval of this shrub replacement plan enables the Maplewood Memorial Park Conservancy and the Township of Maplewood to have a roadmap for the restoration of the historic design of the landscape.
Zone 11: Oakland Bridge River Banks, Existing and Proposed Photos
Zone 1S: South River Banks, Existing and Historic Photos
