Park Maintenance Notice - Week of 10/14/2024
Phragmite removal will take place at both Engel & Kemmerling Parks the week of 10/14/2024. This process will include cutting down and digging out of the invasive plants.
Urban Forest Management Plan - Open for Feedback
We’re excited to share that our newly developed Urban Forest Management Plan, crafted in partnership with Great Lakes Urban Forestry and proudly endorsed by the Morton Arboretum, is ready for your review! We invite you to look at the plan and share your thoughts with us!
Green Initiatives
At the Roselle Park District two of the main components of our mission is to improve the quality of life in the community through the provision of parks and open space. We believe we are the keepers of the parks for future generations and strive to protect and enhance the environment and natural resources of our community. We promote responsible planning, practices, and resource allocation in hopes to inspire the community through example.
Trees & Urban Canopy
The Roselle Park District currently cares for and manages 1,500 trees throughout our park system and recognizes the services and function that trees provide as a collective asset to the entire community. With this in mind the District has adopted, through ordinance, a Tree Protection Policy with the goal of protecting, preserving, and planting of trees in the community.
VIEW OUR TREE PROTECTION ORDINANCE & POLICY
Roselle Park District Awarded Tree Grants
May 2024 - The Roselle Park District is proud to announce that our community received federal funding for Emerald Ash Borer Removal and Urban and Community Forestry projects for the upcoming years! Our focus will be on removing dead Ash trees, increasing the canopy cover, and diversifying the species mix. The District has partnered with a local tree farm, Spring Grove Nursery, to plant trees in Goose Lake and Chatburg Parks, and this year we will start planting in Engel Park. The SGN Growers worked closely with the Roselle Park District to select a diverse species mix and helped map out where each tree should be planted to ensure success. By the end of 2024 we will have planted over 200 trees throughout the community within 2 years, with a wide array of species such as Oaks, Elms, River Birch, Bald Cypress, Serviceberry, Kentucky Coffeetree, Catalpa, Hackberry, Japanese Tree Lilac, Crabapple, and Weeping Willow. Trees provide incredible environmental, economic, and health benefits to the community, and we are excited to continue our tree planting efforts into 2025 and beyond!
Volunteer Tree Planting Events
Contribute to a greener future & volunteer for a tree planting event. Join us in planting around 100 trees in three of Roselle's Park in the next year!
2024 Planting Events:
Friday, May 10 - 9:00am Chatburg Park & Engel Park
Thursday, September 26 - 9:00am Goose Lake Park
Friday, October 18 - 9:00am Goose Lake Park
All events meet at Waterbury School
Interested in volunteering for one of our upcoming tree planting events? Sign up to volunteer here!
Natural Area Restoration
As a part of the District's commitment to parks and open space, the District is working to restore the health and diversity of natural areas. Restoration work involves removing invasive trees and plants to allow a variety of native trees and plants to grow and thrive. Restoration may also include planting native or desirable trees and plants, grading, erosion control, and other improvements depending on location. The complete establishment of native areas takes 3-5 years, but each year up to that point is vital in the creation of a native floral community. The first two years after seeding/planting native species are the most vulnerable times in establishment, so residents should avoid disturbing/walking in those areas during that time.
Goose Lake Park South Plan
The southern-most point of Goose Lake will receive erosion control measures aimed at rebuilding and stabilizing the shoreline. With a combination of native seed and erosion control blanket installation, and coir logs and emergent plug species to help the structural integrity of the rebuilt shore, the south end of Goose will have a fortified shoreline that will prevent the continued erosion to the area since native plants have deep and fibrous root structures that assist in erosion control and filtering rainwater. In the first year, residents can expect to see yellow flowers, like Black Eyed Susans getting their foothold in the area. In the second year, more white flowers will appear alongside the yellows, and during the third year and years after that, the area will become a mosaic of different colors as the natives seed out and fill their niche.
New plantings in the area include:
Engel Park Plan
Engel Park will see the creation of a combination Short Grass Prairie and Low-Profile Moist Meadow. Creating these ecosystems will not only address concerns of flooding and unusable spaces, but will assist the parks in better stormwater management practices and creating native areas that are integral to the biodiversity and functioning of Illinois pollinators. Wetlands are beautiful but fragile ecosystems, so any disturbance should be avoided at all costs, even after the areas are established. Invasive Phragmites will also be removed from the entrance to the park.
New plantings in the area include:
Information on Phragmites (Common Reed):
"Common reed is a vigorous growing plant that forms dense monotypic stands that consume available growing space and push out other plants including the native subspecies. It also alters wetland hydrology, increases the potential for fire and reduces and degrades wetland wildlife habitat due in part to its very dense growth habit."
https://www.invasive.org/alien/pubs/midatlantic/phau.htm
"Although successful Phragmites control is a multi-year endeavor, 3-5 years of annual management typically yields a greater than 95% reduction in the infestation and, more importantly, successful re-establishment of a native plant-dominated assemblage."
Chatburg Park Plan
Chatburg Park will see the creation of a native wetland area about 1.5 acres. Creating these ecosystems will not only address concerns of flooding and unusable spaces, but will assist the parks in better stormwater management practices and creating native areas that are integral to the biodiversity and functioning of Illinois pollinators. Wetlands are beautiful but fragile ecosystems, so any disturbance should be avoided at all costs, even after the areas are established.