NLR picks native trees for plaza
Landscaping to include black gums and red, black oaks
Red oak, black oak and black gum trees will line North Little Rock’s Argenta Plaza under construction on Main Street downtown, providing trees common to Arkansas that should last for decades, city officials said last week.
Rotated plantings of seasonal flowers in the plaza’s grassy, oxbow-shaped berms are meant to provide color year-round for plaza visitors, according to landscape drawings.
The city-owned, $5.36 million Argenta Plaza at 501 Main St. will feature jetted fountains, a front porch sitting area, a 50-foot-long cascading water wall and a 40-foot-tall video screen. The plaza is scheduled to open to the public in time for Thanksgiving week.
Nathan Hamilton, North Little Rock communications director, presented renderings to the city tree board on behalf of Mayor Joe Smith last week to show landscaping plans for the 42,000-square-foot plaza area and seek recommendations from the tree board.
Eight black gum trees are already in place, with four on either side of the plaza’s porch. Remaining trees will be at the back, or the east side, of the plaza.
“During the design phase of the plaza, the mayor made a commitment that he’d share all tree information with the tree board and seek their advice,” Hamilton said later. “It was
hoped they would have advice and recommendations, which they did. The mayor’s office will then be in discussions with the architects.”
North Little Rock Park Ranger Ian Hope, who is chairman of the tree board and working toward certification as an arborist, said board members were pleased with the consultation and what the overall landscaping plan showed.
Red oaks and black oaks are from the oak-hickory forest of the Ouachita Mountains, and black gums are among bottomland trees of the Mississippi Alluvial Plains. The native plants and grasses chosen come from the Arkansas plains and prairies.
“They did some good things,” Hope said in an interview the next day. “They picked native trees. And the plants and shrubs picked are ones that will be good in our growing zone. A lot of people overlook that kind of thing. These plants will be effective, and the plants themselves will provide nice color all yearround.
“Overall it looks like a pretty good plan,” he said. “It’s good to put hardwood trees in rather than just ornamental trees just to make it look pretty. Those are a lot of people’s first move.
“Those are good, native trees, which are good for this growing zone,” he said. “These should look good 20-25 years from now.”
A few concerns the board had, Hope said, involved the layout for planting of trees at the back of the plaza. The renditions of the plaza planting layouts, with circles noting where the red oaks, black gums and black oaks would be planted, have the trees too close together, Hope said. Also, the future height of the trees is a concern, he said.
While Hamilton said the landscape artists had estimated that the trees would grow to 40-50 feet tall, those species of trees at maturity could realistically reach heights of 60-75 feet, Hope said.
“We think they underestimated how big they think the trees will get,” Hope said. “And we think they will be a little close together. When you plant them, they look great; then, 1520 years from now they will be crowding each other and not look so good. With trees, you’ve got to look 20 years down the road.”
Hamilton said of the tree height concerns that the city “will make sure the architects are aware of that.”
“I’m glad we’re getting this done on the front end,” Hamilton said.
Among other board concerns were that herbicides not be used on or near the trees, that any tree trimming be handled by a professional arborist and that the area is permeable for proper drainage. Another concern, Hope said, was that the landscaping plans called for metal grates to be around the trees, which could cause water retention issues.
“Those are terrible for trees,” Hope said. “They really don’t serve any positive function. They can cause maintenance issues and cause water to stand at the base of the tree, which causes rot.”
The plaza is to be the centerpiece for an area that will also include the First Orion office building on the plaza’s back side, now estimated to cost close to $17 million, Hamilton said, up from the announced $10 million estimate when the building’s plans were announced in November 2017. A planned Power & Ice indoor food court is to be on the plaza’s north side, but no finalized plan has been announced.
The three-story, $8.34 million 600 Main Building, also to the plaza’s north, will house two private companies along with the North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.