Conservation in Arbor Hills

Arbor Hills has a number of woodlands and wetlands conservation easements in place throughout the common areas and across several co-owner lots. Please be aware that as a co-owner, you may not arbitrarily cut back these predesignated areas of trees or vegetation as it will impact the wildlife in the area. Exceptions are the removal of invasive species, like purple loosestrife and black locust, or trees that are actively infected with the emerald ash borer. If you plan to do such work, you will need to submit an alt/mod form, specifying exactly what you are doing, along with any relevant parameters. It will need to be compliant with the Bylaws and Master Deed, parcticularly the amendments pertaining to woodland and wetland conservation managment and approval of the request will need to be granted prior to doing the work.

Conservation Considerations

Because of Arbor Hills' uniquely designed layout, with integrated conservation easement throughout the neighborhood, there are several considerations we ask co-owners to keep in mind as they maintain their properties. These considerations include everything from what types of plants are best to avoid when landscaping, what height is ideal for your lawn and best for storm water drainage, to how much of a buffer must be maintained around conservation wetlands. The City has helped push forward some initiatives by adjusting what services they offer, as in the case of grass clippings, by no longer offering to them up as compost, which in turn encourages people to move to mulching their grass clippings or compost them on site. Likewise, when the Association contracts firms to cut down dead ash trees endangering property or for safety reasons, the cut trees are left to decompose, as part of the natural ecological cycle. Trees that are removed from our storm water structures because they are restricting flow, are also wood chipped with the shredder spreading the chips back into the woodlands and wetlands to recycle nutrients naturally back into the eco-system. As you can see, there are several special considerations that are taken into account, to maintain the vitaility of our conservation woodlands and wetlands.

Association Mangement of Wetlands and Woodlands

Part of the funds that are generated by the dues paid by Association co-owners is directed towards the management of the wetlands and woodlands in Arbor Hills. The Master Deed second amendment contains a general management plan for the Arbor Hills wetlands and woodlands. Per the Association's regulatory documents, the Association has a wetlands study completed every five years, monitoring specific charactieristics of the wetlands. The periodic study allows for monitoring of the overall health of the eco-systems and environmental conditions in the wetlands. Assessment of these aspects of our conservation wetlands is vital to both the ecological sustainability of these habitats for native wildlife and their ability to function in the roles of filtration, detention, and retention for our stormwater. As for the woodlands, the Association is aware of the issues caused by the emerald ash borer and the massive loss of native ash trees. Management of the woodlands until now, has been somewhat confined to cutting down dead ash trees as they pose hazards to surrounding property and access routes and allowing the dead trees to naturally decompose to reycle their nutrients back into the environment. In some of the conservation areas, large stands of ash tress have been lost. Because of the vast impact of the borer, the Association does promote tree planting in common areas of native species by permit (please submit an Alt/Mod form if you wish to do so) and budgets for a few tree plantings each year. In conjunction with Adopt A Park, the Association has started fall tree planting days to plant trees in both the local parks and in Association Common Areas. Because we have been informed that our conservation areas serve as sanctuaries for some unique zoological species, along with an inventory of the tree species, it has been proposed to do a natural features inventory in the future, including botanical and zoological population assessments.

Reseeding a Conservation Area

If you do need to disturb one of these areas to do maintenance, for example, on a sump line, or if you would like to help re-establish n particular mixture of native wildflowers and grasses, you may seed or overseed with a native seed mix. As always, you will need to complete an alt/mod request form and submit it for approval, prior to doing so. The best time to seed or overseed a native mix is in the fall, however, it can also be done in the spring. If the vegetation in the area is disturbed through the roots and the soil is bare and exposed to erosion, a cover crop of an annual grass like oats, may need to be sown along with the native seed mix, especially if it's not being sown during the fall season. If you need time to order the native seed mix you want to plant, immediately plant a cover crop and consider using some sort of erosion matting for any exposed soil.

Invasive Plants

There are certain plant species which are non-native to this region, that can spread invasively and harm the established eco-systems. These plants typicaly spread very quickly, and may even have been introduced in the past as a measure to combat erosion, like Autumn/Russian Olive once was. Invasive plants not only easily establish new growth, they can push out or displace existing native plant species and diminish the native plant populations. Species that have been identified as invasive are characterized by being a plant outside of its native range, having strong growth or reproductive rates resulting from abundant propagation or longer growing seasons than they would have in their home regions.

Because Arbor Hills has so many integrated conservation areas, it is even more vital to try to preserve those woodlands and wetlands and keep from contributing invasive plants to the envioronment. Because invasive species spread very fast and can be spread by several means, we request that co-owners stay away from using landscaping plants which are listed on any applicable invasive species lists. The close locality of the conservation areas in Arbor Hills to the landscaping on co-owner properties makes it easy for those plants to jump most means of controlling its spread. In addition, most invasive species have been identiified as such since they have been determined to spread at almost a seemingly unnaturally fast pace, regadless of the surrounding conditions.

Seeds from invasive plants can be distributed through birds and other wildlife, by drifting on wind, by being washed away through rain and watering, likewise through shifting soil, and through root spread. Some plants like stonecrop/sedum can propagte through the tiniest dropped leaf or piece of stem, others can start a new plant off of the smallest seemingly dried out root fragment. The rain and water run-off in Arbor Hills runs into the drains in our private storm water system, which can then easily move seeds or leaves into our wetlands and wetland detention ponds.

Comprehensive Invasive Plant Databases

• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Databse
• Invasive and Exotic Species to North America (a.k.a Invasive.org)

Local Invasive and Prohibited Species Lists

• City of Ann Arbor NAP Invasive Species List
• State of Michigan Prohibited Species List
updated on 08-May-09

Removing or Controlling Invasive Plants

Controlling invasive species, once they have spread, can be very costly and time consuming. If you would like to help curb any invasive species you may come across in your landscaping and gardening, you can manually pull them, rake up dropped leaves, or at least clip any flowering buds to stop the spread of seed. Make sure you properly dispose of any removed plants or clippings in sealed bags, as leaf, stem, or root fragments are all that are needed to propagate some species. Composting is not recommeneded because invasive plant species can be rather tenacious. Despite appearing seemingly dried out, various species can survive being partly dehydrated, separated fom their roots, and their seeds can easily germinate or plant parts can start new growth in fertile soil such as compost. Another alternative to consider for disposal, is to burn the material in the fireplace, after it been has dried. In all cases, try to bag any plant material on site as you remove it, and be careful not to lose any seeds in the process of disposal.

Native Plants

Native plants: wildflowers, grasses, sedges, shrubs, and trees, all native to this region, are a natural alternative for enhancing conservation areas, since these areas can not be traditionally landscaped. In addition, they can be combined into traditional landscaping as selections which can be expected to do especially well in for the conditions in the area. If properly selected, these plants do not require soil conditioning, fertilization, treatment, or the care that may be needed by their cultivated counterparts. There is no concern of unwanted spread into conservation wetlands and woodlands, as those plants are native to the area and may have naturally have propagated from native sources, just as easily. These plants also provide naturally occurring food and nutrient sources to the wildlife as they are part of the established eco-systems. Native plants can be selected to be showy in color and by season.

Wildflowers come in all sorts of colors, shapes and sizes. Some more commonly known wildflowers are native varieties of black eyed susans, coneflowers, asters, columbine, coreopsis, violets, and lobelia. Some less well known michigan wildflowers are the rose mallow, a type of hibicus, gentians, a blue fringed woodland flower, foxglove beardtongue, with white bearded flowers, and southern blue flag iris, aka Virginia Iris, to describe a few. There are also colorful shrubs like the Michigan Holly also known as Winterberry, Black Alder, or Fever Bush, with its red berries, and various dogwoods, which flower in the spring. And as many locals know, "Fall Color" is the term used to describe the time during the fall when ia large array of Michigan native trees likes oaks, maples, aspens, birches, and others (including the Scarlet Oak and Sugar Maple) turn out their brilliant leaves in a rainbow of reds, oranges, yellows, and yellow greens.

Selection of native plant species suitable for the conditions under which you are planning on planting them may affect the suitability of the plant choice. Often you may want to consult multiple sources for information on invasive species, and given the proximity of our wetland and woodland conservation easements, it may be wise to simply avoid any species that are contraversially or questionably invasive. Your Arbor Hills backyard is somewhat unique as it is so closely integrated with the surrounding eco-systems through the shared wildlife and the storm water management system and can be greatly impacted by your plant choices.

Sometimes research will even show that certain choices of native plants offered by native plant suppliers may be considered inappropriate for planting in our neighborhood. For example, Common Milkweed is a weedy and invasive plant according to the Natural Resouces Conservation Services Plants Database and Butterfly Milkweed should only be planted under certain conditions and care, (well contained semi-dry areas with the removal of the seed pods as they start to develop.) Although the butterfly milkweed is a food source for the Monarch Butterfly, the plant can act as a weed and become invasive unless planted under these conditions. Otherwise, the roots can spread very quickly and the large number of seeds each plant generates, can be rapidly distrubuted to create detrimentally dense milkweed populations, especially in disturbed areas.

If you are considering planting native plants in one of the neighborhood nature areas, Arbor Hills Nature Area or Oakwoods Nature Area, you must request approval from the City's Nature Area Preservation program, prior to planting. Only native plants will be considered for planting in the nature areas.

Native Plant Sources

Please do not remove native plants from common areas or conservation easements. In Michigan, it is illegal to remove or cut native wildflowers from public lands.

We have several native plant sources in Michigan, including some local nurseries. Plants can be ordered online oor found at plant sales, farmer's markets, or native plant swaps and exchanges. Native plants can be sold as bare root or potted, and can also be cultivated from seed. Some suppliers offer kits for specific purposes or conditions such as rain gardens, wetlands, or woodlands. Single plant seeds can be purchased or native wildflower and grass seed mixes can be purchased in bulk. For small areas, these bulk native seed mixes can be hand seeded using a sawdust or vermicullite filler, or even leftover cornmeal, as has been suggested by one of the Association's sources. If you do find a private landowner willing to share native plants, consider collecting seed or salvaging plants from areas being landscaped or developed, and, of course, only take what you have appropriate permission from the landowner for.

Any of the suppliers listed on this page are provided for informational purpoases only. The Association does not endorse any of these business, nor has been asked to advertise for them.

• Native Plant Nursery - Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Prairie Moon Nursery - Winona, Minnesota