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Miller Showers was retrofitted for storm water management between the years 2001 and 2004. Native plant communities were established in the shallow water of several constructed stormwater basins and on the surrounding uplands as a prairie buffer. These plant communities received inadequate maintenance over the following decade, resulting in significant infestations of invasive species and recruitment of unwanted woody plants.
In 2018, Eco Logic was hired to perform an evaluation of the park and develop a remediation plan for the upland plant communities that included a phased expansion of the upland prairie wildflower plantings that would replace most of the remaining lawn in the park. The evaluation including mapping the locations and densities of the invasive species on site. A treatment and site preparation plan was developed to control the invasive species and prepare existing lawn areas for a native seed mix rich in forbs to benefit pollinators.
Implementation of this plan began in the spring of 2019 and is scheduled to be completed in 2021. The first phase of the seeding occurred as a combination of dormant no-till seed drill and broadcast sowing in late fall of 2019 and is developing well after one growing season. The 2nd phase of the seeding was installed in late fall of 2020. In addition to the expansion of the upland prairie planting, Eco Logic continues to manage invasive species in the existing naturalized areas and has eliminated or greatly reduced the infestations documented in the 2018 evaluation.
