Big Doings at Little Crum

Andrew Bunting updates Swarthmore officials on the state of Little Crum Creek Park restoration efforts. Photo: Dan Snyder

Spicebush. Elderberry. Arrowood. Native azalea. 

Those are some of the native shrubs the Friends of Little Crum Creek Park are working to reestablish in the park at the eastern end of Swarthmore. 

On a recent Saturday, Friends board member Andrew Bunting gave a tour of the park to fellow board members, the mayor, and some borough council members. He wanted to show the progress volunteers have made in restoring the stream banks and surrounding woods, and in creating a wetland. He also outlined the challenges that remain.

These challenges mainly take the form of invasive exotics: aggressively growing trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that are not native to this part of Pennsylvania. Over decades, they have congested much of the park. Amur honeysuckle, privet, and winged euonymus are some of the worst culprits.

“Lots of plants that grow in our gardens are exotics,” Bunting explained. Much of the time, that’s not a problem. But sometimes these plants escape from our yards and start spreading, invading and disrupting native ecosystems. “They choke out what should be there,” he said.

Bunting is a long-time horticulturist who has worked in gardens and arboreta around the country. He is currently vice president of public horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and vice president of the Swarthmore Horticultural Society. (He also serves as the Swarthmorean’s garden columnist.) Over the summer, he engaged Swarthmore resident Alyssa Taylor for an internship cataloging the plants in the park, both native and not. 

Taylor is a Strath Haven High School graduate (class of 2013) now in her first year studying landscape architecture in graduate school. Working mostly alone in the park where she used to play as a girl, she cataloged about 150 species of trees, shrubs, vines, and perennials, although “It’s possible there were a couple sneaky plants that we missed,” she said. Taylor also recorded each species’ location, frequency, and additional observations like “reseeding prolifically” (doublefile viburnum) or “only one specimen in the park” (dawn redwood). The inventory will help shape a strategy for future restoration efforts.

Amur honeysuckle is a particularly aggressive invasive shrub. Photo: Susan Kelly

Trees, Desirable and Not

“There are quite a few native trees” in the park, Bunting told the group, pointing to a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) spreading its branches over the creek. Tulip trees, he said, are truly native to Delaware County, explaining, “When people use the term ‘native plant,’ it’s often not exactly native to here.” Virginia sweetspire, for example, is often considered native. But, Bunting pointed out, “it’s native to Virginia.” (Some botanists and others are beginning to rethink the binary nomenclature of “native” and “exotic,” since all species migrated to new areas at some point in their past.)

For the kind of restoration the Friends group envisions, such near neighbors are good enough. “I’m not a hardcore native-only person,” Bunting said. “I love a lot of different trees.” The goal is to populate the park with native and resilient species that will withstand variable soil conditions and the changing climate but not crowd out their neighbors.

Of all the undesirable trees in the park, the Norway maple “is probably the worst,” Bunting said, explaining that the tree creates heavy shade that prevents many native plants from growing underneath. Its shallow roots are a problem too, sucking up available moisture. Worst of all, the roots excrete a compound into the soil that “prohibits anything from growing at the base of it except its own seedlings.”

Norway maples are also inhospitable hosts for other living creatures. They might serve as habitat for perhaps 30 species of insects, caterpillars, and birds, while a native white oak, by contrast, can host up to 600.

Unlike their Norway cousins, native red maples are welcome in the park. They like the wet conditions the creek provides. So do American elms, one of which borders the stream, belying the myth that all members of that once-common species succumbed to Dutch elm disease. “People say that tree must be resistant,” Bunting said. He suspects that conditions in the park are so favorable that this tree never sickened in the first place.

A less desirable elm is the lacebark, one of which was planted in a grassy area some years ago. Bunting called the species an invader and is uncomfortable with its presence here. “I feel, if we have it in the park, we’re endorsing it,” he said. “I’d rather take it out now.”

Native birches have been planted too, and they are more welcome. So are dogwoods, redbuds, and the Kentucky coffee tree (“pretty close to native” according to Bunting), whose shiny, bitter seeds were roasted, ground, and steeped to make a hot beverage in the South during the Civil War. American Indian peoples including the Omaha and the Menominee used the seeds to make medicine, dice, and musical instruments. They may have fostered the trees’ spread, so “people don’t know what its true native range is,” Bunting remarked.

The dawn redwood isn’t a troublemaker, but it’s not native either. It’s an import from China. “Some people might claim that it’s native,” Bunting said, “because you can find fossils of it in the United States.” But, he noted, those fossils are millions of years old. The tree was reintroduced to this country in the 1940s.

A Community Resource

With its creek, woodland, and grassy areas, the park is well used, especially now that COVID-19 is prompting more people to socialize out of doors. On the afternoon of the tour, several picnic tables hosted groups eating lunch and carving pumpkins. “You see lots of kids down in the creek,” Bunting said.

Alyssa Taylor’s inventory is accessible to anyone interested in the park’s plants by contacting Susan Kelly at susankelly339@gmail.com. “It gives a good snapshot of what’s native and non-native in this part of Delaware County,” Bunting reported. 

The Friends of the Park is currently finalizing a strategic plan. In addition to restoring the local ecosystem, the members hope to acquire new benches for the park and build a permanent bathroom. “Even a small amount of money will help us advance things,” Bunting said.

The organization intends to apply for grants and is also accepting donations. Checks to the Friends of Little Crum Creek Park may be sent to P.O. Box 107, Swarthmore, 19081.

Learn more about the Friends of Little Crum Creek Park. 

A birthday party at Little Crum Creek Park. Photo: Susan Kelly