South Berwick resident and landscape architect Terrence Parker announces that there will be community work day on July 17 from 9:30 to 3:30 and helpers are needed to assist in the restoration of the landscape behind Central School.
SAD 35 School Board members recently approved a proposal by Terrence Parker to make changes to the grounds behind the school to create a beautiful and sustainable landscape with natural elements for play, social interaction, and preservation of nature. Beyond the school day, the area behind Central School is used for a wide variety of community events and is a destination for children and families looking for a place to recreate in the center of town so the improvements will be enjoyed by many.
Mr. Parker and his firm, Terra Firma Landscape Architecture Company of Portsmouth, N.H. will be donating design services and coordinating donations and volunteers to complete the project. The completed design will include the following:
-Walking Trail: a perimeter path that will meander through various forest, meadow and plant communities. This trail will link the children to the school entrance and surrounding neighborhood paths.
-Natural Play elements will include a rain garden, a log walk composed of tree trunks and limbs, boulder walks, sculpted earth mounds for climbing, paved areas for play, and relocation of the smaller play structures.
-A “re-wilding” or naturalizing of the existing landscape areas. This will include a meadow, seeded with native grasses and some wild flowers from the edge of the existing forest into the existing athletic field.
Mr. Parker is seeking volunteers for the first stage of the project to help clear invasive plant from the areas. Mr. Parker is asking people to bring hand saws/ chain saws, shovels, gloves, etc. to assist in the removal of all of the existing invasive shrubs, trees and vines on the ground of the school. Work will consist of cutting, digging and grubbing out root masses of shrubs and clearing trees (Norway Maples) from the campus grounds. Those who wish to help should go to the rear parking lot at Central School on July 17th. Work will take place between 9:30 and 3:30. Volunteers should bring water, food, and friends….
Read more about the project in the Portsmouth Herald:
Central School park to get overhaul: New landscape to encourage creative play
