Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn An Oasis for Birds and Birders | Page 15

Eternally Green: Sustaining Mount Auburn & the World Around Us
Narcissus/Beech Habitat
Restoration 2012
View showing a section of the banks above Narcissus Path
which will be re-planted.
by Candace Currie, Director of Planning & Sustainability
and Dennis Collins, Horticultural Curator
Imagine birding at Mount Auburn and walking
through a native habitat corridor rather than from one
destination “hotspot” like Auburn Lake to another like
Consecration Dell. We have a plan to create such a pathway.
The Beech Avenue/Narcissus Path area, once the location of
Forest Pond, south of Indian Ridge and north of Consecration
Dell, will undergo transformation this summer. Generous
gifts from the Anthony J. and Mildred D. Ruggiero Memorial
Trust and private individuals provided the funding to complete
this vital habitat restoration. Chair,
The Beech/Narcissus corridor is long and narrow, spanning
only 90’ at its widest point and covering an area of approxi-
mately 1.1 acres. From the higher west side along Beech
Avenue down to Narcissus Path (a drop of more than 20’)
one sees mature native oaks forming the canopy, together
with several large hemlocks. The understory contains several
significant swaths of the native American holly, whose fruit
has a high animal habitat value. The fruit is eaten by over
twenty species of birds including the Cedar Waxwing,
Hermit Thrush, thrashers, finches, and cardinals.
The conceptual design for the new plantings capitalizes
on the clusters of native American holly that now feature
impressive mature trees. Using these as the primary focal
points in the landscape, the plan introduces new forms of
holly and uses them as the thematic element running through
the landscape. From a wildlife habitat perspective, the variety
of different hollies offers several important advantages. One
advantage is that the fruit of different species ripen at dif-
ferent times of the year, thereby extending the availability
of food sources through the seasons. Another advantage is
that holly species grow in a range of different forms: tall
trees, intermediate sized shrubs, and low, thicket-forming
shrubs. This variety offers a diverse array of protection and
nesting opportunities, suitable for different wildlife species.
This project satisfies multiple landscape objectives. It
represents another sizable addition to our animal habitat-
focused landscapes. It begins to connect some of our
densely planted habitat spaces and satisfies our Master
Plan objective to build aesthetic diversity into the overall
landscape while appearing historically appropriate. It fits
with our long-term sustainability objective of creating less
labor-intensive landscapes that serve aesthetic needs while
performing ecological functions. Even when important
natural sites are spared from development, they can rapidly
decline and lose their value as animal habitat without on-
going management. By removing invasive plant species and
returning to these sites more sustainable vegetation, this
project will help us provide the long-term management
necessary for Mount Auburn to continue to be the out-
standing landscape that it has been for over 180 years.
Spring/Summer 2012 | 13