May — The Fundamentals of Urban Greenspaces
Capital Trees in Context: Learning from Leading Park Conservancies
Capital Trees leads through forward-thinking partnerships and imaginative design, and brings the most innovative thinking from around the globe to Richmond. We stand proudly within a growing movement of successful urban park conservancies that are transforming public spaces into community assets. Like Park Pride in Atlanta, we prioritize community engagement in our planning and design processes, ensuring that greenspaces reflect local needs and voices. From Charleston Parks Conservancy, we’ve been inspired to create strong volunteer networks and foster neighborhood ownership of public landscapes.
The internationally recognized High Line in New York City demonstrates the power of innovative design and public-private partnership. Capital Trees shares this commitment to reimagining underutilized spaces into dynamic, sustainable public environments. Similarly, the Portland Parks Conservancy has shown how long-term stewardship and strong alignment with public agencies to bridge gaps can elevate the quality and accessibility of urban parks—a model we reflect through our collaboration with the City of Richmond and other partners.
Our longevity and leadership in this space make us the go-to resource for developers, legislators, and civic and community partners who want to take real action for the earth and the greater Richmond community. By aligning with these best practices, Capital Trees is not only raising awareness locally about the need to carry our mission forward but contributing to a broader, national movement to elevate the role of green infrastructure in urban well-being and resilience.
Earlier this month, members of our Board of Trustees, Advisory Council, and Weekly Maintenance Volunteers took part in an educational tour at the Hotchkiss Green. Members of Groundwork RVA’s Green Team were on site with us to teach about heat island effects and how to capture thermal images of the Hotchkiss Green. Capital Trees is partnering with Groundwork RVA’s Green Team to collect data for at least 3 years to see the heat island improvements that result from the trees and landscape changes made as a result of our project. Their data pre-dates the installation of the trail and trees, and we are finding a marked difference in the temperatures, already!
Following this field study we gathered for fellowship at The Smoky Mug, just down from The Hotchkiss Green on Brookland Park Boulevard.
May — Urban Greenspace Maintenance
In May, the gardens exploded with activity. Thankfully our volunteer participation rose to meet the demand. In addition to our weekly Wednesday morning volunteer days in the Low Line Gardens (located at 2803 Dock Street, Richmond, VA,) we hosted four private groups at the Low Line, one community workday at James S. Christian Jr. Park, and one private workday at Hotchkiss Green.
The work spanned from pulling crabgrass to planting perennials, shrubs, and trees.
Garden Highlights:
James S. Christian Jr. Park
James S. Christian Jr. Park: A delightful urban park nestled in the north portion of Churchill at the confluence of Chimborazo, P Street and OakWood Avenue. Thanks to the vision of Mark Olinger, a neighborhood resident and Capital Trees Advisory Council member, the once derelict memorial and greenspace has a new lease on life. Partnering with the City of Richmond and volunteers, 11 new trees were planted in the surrounding tree wells, including three in the park proper. The existing planter was repaired and painted. Volunteers planted over 90 perennials in and around the refurbished planter. This pocket park transformation is a great example of what can be achieved through public/private partnerships.
New plantings at the Low Line Gardens
Low Line Gardens: Established ten years ago, the gardens continue to flourish. As with any garden, part of the care is to adjust the existing plantings as needed (removing what doesn’t work, adding in what does). We were excited to introduce Lindera benzoin (Northern spicebush) into the gardens. This Missouri native is a larval host to Papilio glaucus (Eastern Tiger Swallowtail) and the Papilio troilus (Spicebush Swallowtail).
Our dedicated Wednesday volunteers and private groups tirelessly worked to rehab several of the garden layouts. Like any other living organism, some plants thrive while others struggle. Part of our maintenance philosophy is to listen to the garden and to work with rather than against it. This often means re-purposing existing plants that are thriving and editing those that are over achievers or are struggling.
Our current challenge at the Low Line Green
The Low Line Green: Established in 2020, this space continues to challenge us. Located at the western trailhead for the Virginia Capital Trail, the garden was established to help filter stormwater runoff before it reaches the James River. After a few false starts we seem to have found a palette of plants that works for the northern side of the garden. However, the southern end, which houses the rain garden, continues to provide challenges. Over the winter we lost over 75% of the plants. We are in the process of collecting data and talking with colleagues to ascertain what caused the attrition. As with most things, we suspect that there may be more than one contributing factor. We will keep you posted on the progress.
Expanding the mulch rings at Canoe Run Park
Canoe Run Park: We continued our work at Canoe Run partnering with The City of Richmond Parks and Recreation Department, Keep VA Beautiful, Co-Star and individual and corporate volunteers. This month we continued our work to clean up and enlarge the mulch rings around the trees. We also added 150 perennials to the newly established pollinator garden.
Volunteers this spring helped us plant hundreds of perennial plugs at the Hotchkiss Green
Hotchkiss Green: The initial work at Hotchkiss Green has been completed. Over the next few months, with the help of volunteers, we will keep the gardens weeded and enlarge the mulch rings around the newly planted trees. Stay tuned for information on a community workday in the fall to plant the pollinator berm.
As we approach the summer season we look forward to sharing the unfolding stories of the various greenspaces we are privileged to maintain.
May — Featured Trees Seasonal Update
The black gum tree in the median at Great Shiplock Park has fully leafed out in time for summer’s arrival next month.
Throughout 2025, we’ll be documenting the black gum tree, Nyssa sylvatica, which is planted at many of our urban greenspaces. This native tree is one of our favorites, hence its wide use. It offers interest every season of the year — shiny green leaves in the summer, brilliant reds, yellows, oranges and purples in the fall, and architectural structure in the winter.
Important for our purposes, black gum trees thrive in a variety of growing conditions making it suitable for planting in urban soils. They are tolerant of drought, heat, and both dry and wet soils. Typically, in cultivated conditions, the tree matures at 20-30 feet in height with a 1-2 inch diameter trunk. Because it’s native, it supports a variety of wildlife including mammals, birds, and insects.
You can learn more about black gum trees here.
May — “Spotted At”
It’s spring along the Low Line which means… we’ve spotted baby birds! Each year, we look forward to seeing if Canadian Geese choose to rear their goslings in the gardens again, and were glad to see another hatch in the greenspace. The parents are smart to take advantage of the water frontage and cover afforded by the plants along the Low Line. We also caught a glimpse of a mockingbird fledgling, recently out of their nest and likely still being taken care of by nearby parents. Seeing birds choose to nest and raise their young in the gardens is proof to us that our gardens are a vital part of the ecosystem, and we’re so glad to do our part to help protect wildlife.
