Generous Donor Spruces Up Downtown Kamm’s Corners
Earlier this year, West Park Kamm’s Neighborhood Development was contacted by a member of the community who received an unexpected inheritance and wanted to put the money to good use. They spent most of their life living in West Park and had an idea for a way to commemorate their loss and beautify the neighborhood.
As a frequent patron of the many shops, restaurants, and bars in Downtown Kamm’s, the donor saw an opportunity to improve the planter beds throughout the district with a fall cleanout and new plantings. To assist with the project, they enlisted a team they regularly work with – Native Landscapes and Gardens.
Native Landscapes and Gardens is a company who, as their name implies, prioritizes reestablishing native landscapes through eco-friendly landscape practices and creating spaces that support the local wildlife and biodiversity. They seek to reverse the trend of natural habitat loss and slow the spread of invasive and non-native species. They offer both commercial and residential services as well as landscape and garden design. Native Landscapes and Gardens maintains several properties throughout West Park so you’ve likely seen their team around the neighborhood.
Over the span of three weeks in October, Native Landscapes and Gardens' crew worked to weed every landscape bed from West 165th Street to Kamm’s Plaza along Lorain Avenue. They also focused on removing overgrowth from cracks in the sidewalks and center medians to prep them for winter.
Following the cleanup, Native Landscapes and Gardens then added new, native plants along Lorain Avenue. Species included gro-low sumac, prairie dropseed, butterfly milkweed, allium, catmint, and coneflowers. This collection of plants provides numerous benefits to the local environment like soil stabilization and food and habitat for pollinators.
As a final step, organic, dark brown mulch was laid down to add nutrients to the soil and help with weed suppression so the new plants can thrive in their space.
All this work set the stage for a more colorful, robust landscape to come in the spring when all the plants new and old are in bloom again. We can’t wait to see the results!
WPKND would like to thank the donor, who prefers to remain anonymous, and Native Landscapes and Gardens for all their work to pull off this project. Their generosity went a long way to improve the landscaping in downtown Kamm’s and we are grateful that they chose to donate their resources in this way. You can learn more about Native Landscapes and Gardens and the services they offer by visiting their website here.
