Hank Aaron Archives | Marek Landscaping

SEWISC Wild Chervil Control

Marek_Katie — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 22:59:13 +0000

Southeastern Wisconsin is especially vulnerable to invasive species due to habitat availability in urbanized and other disrupted areas, and the high rate of road traffic traveling to and from Illinois, which can unintentionally transport and introduce invasive species to new areas. One of these species is Wild Chervil (Anthriscus silvestris), also known as Cow Parsley, Bur Chervil, and Keck. Wild Chervil thrives in roadsides, forest edges, fields, pastures, and disturbed areas, and is unfortunately a familiar face in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Southeastern Wisconsin Invasive Species Consortium (SEWISC) has been raising funds and awareness for invasive species control since 2007. SEWISC functions as a Cooperative Weed Management Area and promotes invasive species management in an 8-county region including Sheboygan, Washington, Ozaukee, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Walworth, Racine, and Kenosha.

Marek Landscaping’s involvement with the SEWISC- Wild Chervil Control project began in 2017 in Muskego on a small site needing additional Wild Chervil intervention; a 0.6-acre area just off of N Cape Road. While the past 4 years of our prescribed treatments have dramatically reduced the population of Wild Chervil in the designated area, the neighboring untreated property continues to have an uncontrolled population of Wild Chervil.

Our Wild Chervil mitigation efforts continued in 2018-2020 with our undertaking of five acres along the Hank Aaron Trail to the east of S Hawley Road in Milwaukee, and six more miles along rural roadside to the north, in Cedarburg.

Wild Chervil is best controlled by an herbicide treatment in early to mid-May with a follow up in early June.

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Three Bridges Park & Hank Aaron State Trail Natural Area Project

Marek — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 03:22:04 +0000

This 24-acre, urban revitalization project that transformed a former vacant rail yard into a natural area, stabilizing the riverbank, managing site stormwater, improving water quality, creating native habitat, and providing fishing and canoeing access to the Menomonee River. Overall, the project provides a nearly 3-mile long extension of the Hank Aaron Trail and pedestrian bridges to connect the new trail with the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory and completed trail segments on the north side of the Menomonee River. New opportunities for recreational space include the Urban Ecology Center, community gardens, public art, and nature-based activities for the surrounding neighborhoods.

Marek Landscaping and a fluvial geomorphologist provided designs for more than 4,000 feet of riverbank restoration, including fabric encapsulated soil lifts at the riverbank. Our work also included:

developing concepts and designing the vegetation restoration and landscape architecture plans for the entire 24 acre park and within the 100-year floodplain,
developing and revising detailed enhancement zone plantings & rivercut plan sheets & details,
refining the stormwater swale to include emergent aquatic habitat, ephemeral ponds, and water quality improvement measures,
developing space saving concept of hydromulch for the asbestos containing material daily cover requirements,
revising and authoring 18 special provisions, and
assisted in developing construction/restoration phasing, and construction budgeting.

The project has received numerous awards, including:

The Daily Reporter Top Project of 2013
ACEC Engineering Excellence Award, 2014
ACEC WI Best of State Engineering Award, 2014
Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation (MANDI) – Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award Winner, 2014
City of Milwaukee Mayor’s Design Award, 2014
Public Policy Forum, Public Private Cooperation Award, 2014
Wisconsin Women Transportation Seminar, Project of the Year, 2013

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Menomonee Valley Passage & Hank Aaron State Trail

Marek — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 01:33:54 +0000

The open space, urban revitalization project east of downtown Milwaukee served to restore the historic connection of the surrounding neighborhoods to the Menomonee Valley, provide a trail head for the Hank Aaron State Trail, and provide access to recreation amenities and natural resources along the Menomonee River. The project involved a pedestrian underpass below the Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks, a new pedestrian bridge over the Menomonee River, and a 2,000-foot long bicycle trail between the river and the railroad tracks. As a subconsultant, Marek Landscaping completed the riverbank vegetation inventory, cataloged and photographed the most valuable plants based on species, size, location, and overall condition, provided recommendations for tree protection and removals related to site grading, engineering, and landscape layout, identified opportunities to use regionally available and recycled materials in the project, assisted with identifying low-impact construction techniques, sited green stormwater infrastructure, assisted in developing stormwater management solutions, and prepared plans and specifications to WisDOT standards. Marek helped integrate the public in the design process through the use of Community Advisory Committee meetings and public informational meetings and provided renderings for meeting exhibits. This project was awarded the City of Milwaukee Mayor Design Award, the ACEC-WI State Finalist Award, and a Milwaukee Award for Neighborhood Development Innovation (MANDI). Learn more at Menomonee Valley Partners.

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