Team effort transforms soggy mess into wetlands

All it took was 3,810 plants, persistent neighbors and intervention by the Columbus Fire Division to solve a soggy problem in a city park.

Less than two months after its creation, Sharon Meadows Park has a wetlands that’s attracting bluebirds, frogs and ducks.

“It was supposed to be a

little rain garden,” project manager Debra Knapke said.

But one look at the site — a quarter-acre where Sharon Elementary School once stood in northern Clintonville — convinced her that she needed a grander plan to transform the sodden ground into something both atractive and capable of containing water.

Knapke, a garden designer who teaches at Columbus State Community College, turned it into a class project for her students.

The project, costing about $9,600, was made possible by government grants, in-kind donations from private companies, and neighborhood volunteers.

Residents had been trying for years to get something done about the waterlogged northwest corner of the park, bounded by Stanton, Sharon and Foster avenues and Meadowlark Lane.

The Columbus school district demolished the building in 2009 and gave the site to the city for parkland. But poor drainage, leftover debris and a possible underground spring left it perpetually wet and neighbors perpetually frustrated.

“We had promises from Columbus Recreation and Parks for years, but somehow it didn’t happen,” said Patsy Deerhake, who lives nearby and made sure that the city didn’t forget about the problem.

The city said it took time to analyze the problem.

After the site was graded and a lot of debris removed, about 30 volunteers showed up on April 22 — Earth Day — to begin planting sedges, bulrush, switch grass, milkweed and other plants.

In an ironic twist, Deerhake had to ask firefighters from Station 19 in Clintonville to wet down the wetlands site because the compacted clay soil was so hard that planting proved all but impossible. (Knapke later brought muffins to the firefighters in gratitude.)

Knapke said they planted 3,810 plants and 27 shrubs on April 22-23.

The site includes a shallow pool and a sedge meadow, bisected by a mound with a walking path. It’s designed to attract wildlife — including bats, to keep mosquitoes (a concern of some) under control.

Maintenance will be required for at least another year to keep nonnative species from crowding out the new plants. But the site is working as envisioned, Knapke said.

“It’s doing what a wetland is supposed to do. It’s holding the water, not letting it escape, ... and eventually it’s going to be absolutely gorgeous.”