Current News
Pond dredging, re-landscaping at Arboretum to be undertaken this year
January 04, 2007
For immediate release - Jan. 4, 2007 Contact: Eric Cárdenas (860) 439-2508; eric.cardenas@conncoll.edu Pond dredging, re-landscaping at Connecticut College Arboretum to be undertaken this year Project will "restore the natural and indigenous character of the wetland" NEW LONDON, Conn. - Two major projects to increase habitat diversity, redesign public space and improve forest health at the Connecticut College Arboretum will be undertaken this year.
The first project, set to begin immediately, involves renovating the landscape around the outdoor theater. A number of arborvitae and Eastern hemlocks will be removed this winter and replaced by a variety of native trees and shrubs, including deciduous and evergreen shrubs, sugar maple, oak, laurel and rhododendron.
According to Glenn Dreyer, the Charles and Sarah P. Becker ´27 Director of the Arboretum, the hemlocks, which were planted in 1933, are slowly dying due to hemlock woolly adelgid infestation - which was first seen in Connecticut in the mid-1980s. The infestation continues despite regular spraying with horticultural oil.
Secondly, this summer, the man-made, freshwater pond in the Arboretum will be drained and a portion of it dredged to 10 feet at the northern end of the pond. Most of the pond will remain two to three feet deep, but the various depths will allow for a range of water temperatures, which improves habitat diversity. Currently, the shallow pond is completely covered by white water lily plants during the growing season.
Dreyer said the pond was last dredged in 1992, but that this dredging project will be more extensive and will go considerably deeper. Less than 9,000 cubic yards of material is expected to be removed, and invasive and nuisance species, such as giant reed, white water lily and pickerel fish, will be eliminated.
"Water lilies won´t be able to root in so much of the pond and there will be open water year-round in a portion. Like other deep ponds, it will stratify in the summer - a phenomenon in which there are cold and warm layers of water, and which is key to habitat diversity," Dreyer said. "This will create the environment for a variety of different fish and other organisms such as floating, un-rooted plants."
The Arboretum pond is used regularly in college botany, biology and environmental studies classes, and surveys of invertebrate life in the pond have shown a decline in the diversity of species.
The pond was originally built by the college in the 1920s as a place for students to ice skate. It is the centerpiece of the Native Tree and Shrub Collection and is a magnet for both visitors and wildlife. A boardwalk for the western end of the deepened area has been proposed, which would allow access to both deep and shallow water habitats for college classes, other educational programs and visitors.
"We anticipate that this project will not disturb, and will in fact restore, the natural and indigenous character of the wetland," Dreyer said.
Some of the dredge spoil will be used to increase the slope of the theater to improve usability of the theater and the experience for performers and the audience. The theater will be re-seeded in the fall, and replacement plantings will be completed in spring 2008.
The theater is used annually in the summer for outdoor Shakespeare performances by the Flock Theater and is used regularly for weddings and school field trips. Due to the pond dredging, the Flock Theater will perform at an alternate New London location this summer.
Additional projects include:
•Installing conduit for temporary and permanent lighting, and installing lighting from Buck Lodge through the theater and along the laurel walk; •Building a wooden fence as part of the outdoor theater to provide "backstage" space for performers; •Rebuilding the Buck Lodge porch; •Raising the fence on the southern and western edges of the arboretum. The western and northern fences were raised three feet last spring, which helps protect the native plant collection.
All work areas will be posted with signs, but impact on visitors is expected to be minimal. Some hiking trails may not be accessible or will be re-routed.
The pond dredging project is conditional on receiving permits. It and the fence-raising project are being funded by grants from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Home Natural Resource Conservation Service, which will be matched by a bequest by Priscilla Pasco, a 1939 Connecticut College botany major who lived in Kennebunkport, Maine.
The Arboretum was established in 1931, and encompasses 750 acres that includes the Connecticut College campus. The arboretum includes plant collections, natural areas and managed areas, and serves as a park for the surrounding community. Arboretum staff offers weekly tours of its plant collections, botanical lectures, landscaping symposia and an annual photography contest.
Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 43 states and 45 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 85-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu. -CC-
For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu