Ortonville- The village may be on the cutting edge of fashion? joining places like Chicago and Boston in cultivating a native plant garden; however, some village councilmembers just want the garden cut.
At their meeting July 27, the village council approved by a 4-3 vote a motion to ask the group that tends the garden located next to the Old Town Hall at the corner of Mill and Church streets to ‘manicure, clean up and more define the area.?
Councilmember Mary Kassuba made the motion, saying she has received complaints from village residents.
‘The garden is currently overgrown and it looks unkempt,? she said. ‘Personally, I don’t feel it is in the proper location for that kind of garden. If we’re going to have a garden there, it should be a flower garden, not a wild, native garden.?
The native plant landscape, known as the ‘Heritage Garden,? was planted in the spring of 2007, established with a five-year grant from the Farm Bureau that stipulated plants native to the area must be used. The garden contains several varieties of black-eyed susans, sedge (a low, grass-like evergreen plant), native columbine, switchgrass, blue stem and potentilla.
The garden requires no watering, fertilizer or pesticides and is beneficial to wildlife including birds, butterflies, and insects, says Celia Ryker, a master gardener involved in the project from the beginning. She designed the garden in keeping with the type of garden that would have been planted in the 1800s, giving it historical and environmental significance.
Ryker said she anticipated when planting the garden that some residents wouldn’t like it, but she didn’t expect such strong opposition.
‘They’re seeing an open field that is weeds, I see an open field that is beautiful,? she said. ‘It’s perception… The problem with public gardens or public art is people have different opinions of what a garden or art is, and when you put it in a public place, people who don’t like it will be vocal about it and people who do like it will be less vocal, but they are there.?
Ryker likes the location of the garden for the attention it is attracting and hopes to educate the public on the benefits of native landscaping and the positive ecological effects. Kassuba points out that the village owns 47 acres of property just north of the garden’s location that has natural features.
‘I’m not asking them to take it out,? Kassuba said. ‘I just want it weeded and to look more defined, more tailored, more appropriate for that setting. I just want it trimmed back.?
However, Ryker said that while trimming of the grasses and plants could be done, it wouldn’t be without them looking worse than they currently do.
Ryker plans to talk to the councilmembers for more specifics on what they want to see the garden look like.
‘Our plan is to get more information before we do anything, because we don’t want to tear out something they don’t mind,? she said.