Background information

Christian Park is a 74-acre community park surrounded by residential neighborhoods on the East Side of Indianapolis in Central Township. The park offers numerous year-round recreational activities that include walking/jogging paths along the Pleasant Run. It is along this stream that service learning participants have installed trees, shrubs and wild grass seed. These plant introductions self-propagate, filling in a portion of the natural forest plant structure. Although the woody plant species may take many years to mature, the grasses will become established in as little as three years, providing food and shelter for local and migratory wildlife as well as an aesthetically pleasing natural landscape. Upon maturity of the woody tree and shrub species, the restoration site will contain a natural vegetative structure that helps restore the ecological function of a native riparian corridor.

In order to reduce nonpoint source pollution on a watershed basis, restoration practices will need to become as popular as landscaping, gardening installation, and grounds/turf management. Projects like these will provide living examples of how to help restore and manage the natural environment.

The riparian restoration is improving water quality through: 1) improving ground water recharge by reducing stormwater runoff; 2) filtering non-point source pollution from parking lots and grassed areas by allowing native plants to grow to their natural height; and 3) increasing dissolved oxygen levels by shading the stream with native trees, shrubs and other vegetative layers. The Christian Park restoration project, and other restoration projects in public parks and greenways, will begin to reduce non-point source pollution in area water bodies.

Background information provided by Indy Parks and Recreation Office of Land Stewardship