Promenade Gardens Park Is Underway with Pavilion, Trails, and Grassy Field
| Treehugging in Promenade Gardens Park At East West Communities we pride ourselves on creating superior communities while preserving the land for generations to come. We do not feel that development and preservation of the environment have to be mutually exclusive as can be seen in our many communities across the country ( www.ew-realty.com ), and most recently at Patriots Landing. All of the Homearama homes front on a 1.3 acre triangle park that’s part of the 101 acres of open space within the community. Construction began this week on the park with several goals of equal importance 1) creating a great recreational opportunity for the current and future residents of Patriots Landing, 2) providing a venue for many of the activities, performances, parties, and events that we be a part of Richmond’s Homearama, and 3) preserving the ecosystem that has existed in this location since Pocahontas and the Powhatan Indians walked this land. Typical land development begins with an excavator or bulldozer clearing areas of forest and attempting to save other areas. This approach is necessary when building a road or school but doesn’t work real well in a park, it’s sort of like giving someone a haircut with a machete. The machine is so heavy that it crushes the root systems of the trees you are trying to save. We took a different approach and hired my good friend and certified arborist, John Tuttle, owner of Eastern Tree Service, to selectively cut and prune the park. The dense woodland has been transformed into a place that humans and nature can continue to live together for years to come. He even cabled some branches together on the largest Poplar in the middle of the property to protect it from wind and storms. The park has a diverse assortment of White Oak, Red Oak, Hickory, Beech, Birch, Black Gum, Red Maple, Poplar, Holly and Sassafras. The wildlife includes many bird species including bluebirds who feed off of the holly berries. We saved a Box Turtle and an American Toad while we were working on the clearing. We named the toad Pepe and he’s now the Homearama mascot. Pepe says “See you at Homearama!” |