2023 NNLA Field Day

On Thursday, September 21st, NNLA held its annual Summer Field Day at both Omaha’s RiverFront and Lauritzen Gardens. Over 115 attendees gathered that morning at the Performance Pavilion at Gene Leahy Mall and were welcomed by NNLA President, Brett Schroer. Katie Bassett, MECA’s Vice President of Parks shared some of the history of the different parks. The RiverFront combines three parks in the heart of downtown Omaha into one identity. The seventy-two acres of the three parks now connect. The redesigned Gene Leahy Mall opened to the public on July 1, 2022, and the Heartland of America Park and Lewis & Clark Landing opened on August 18, 2023.

The goal of this revitalization project was to create an iconic riverfront with a variety of functional spaces that will be a catalyst for downtown growth and community connectivity - creating a regional destination that will attract residents, visitors, and businesses to the area. The RiverFront maintained a sense of place in downtown Omaha by rehabilitating, restoring, and repurposing existing community assets, and fully preserving the character defining features of several significant historic and cultural resources. The RiverFront added a significant amount of public space and a wide variety of amenities and improved their safety and connectivity to maximize enjoyment. The additions, which include sculpture gardens, event lawns, art plazas, playgrounds, performance pavilions, and an amphitheater, interactive water features, an area for remote control boats, a dog park, swings, river overlooks, boardwalks, an urban beach, and more.

The Downtown Riverfront Trust selected OJB Landscape Architecture to design The RiverFront, with the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), HDR and the Kiewit Corporation comprising the overall project team. The RiverFront has earned the Envision® Platinum rating, the highest level possible from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. It is the first project in Nebraska to receive an Envision distinction. Gene Leahy Mall was also honored with ASLA National Honor Award for Design this year.

Kaitlyn Barth, Horticulture Coordinator, from the MECA horticulture team highlighted some of the plants that are featured throughout the landscape beds of the RiverFront. Attendees were given copies of the RiverFront Landscape Guide which explains the landscape design intent of the project and lists the different plants found in each of the three parks. Featuring full color photos of all of the plants with their scientific and common names helps to connect visitors to the parks with the landscape. Hardscape materials are also included in the guide. According to the guide, there have been about 1,500 trees and over 100,000 plants installed across the park’s 72 acres.

The plant species are a blend of “familiar landscape plants and hardy native selections.” Kaitlyn also shared that there are four full time and four part time members of the horticulture team and that they plan to open two more part time positions. There have been challenges including overwatering and trees struggling due to the stress that comes from very urban environments, explained Kaitlyn. On a positive note, there are many birds, bats and insects already using the park as an oasis in the middle of downtown Omaha. The attendees were then allowed to tour the three parks at their own pace and experience the landscapes and amenities first-hand. The elm trees are thriving and the Rozanne geraniums were in full bloom. NNLA members tried out slides, hammocks, swings, teeter totters and built a castle out of foam blocks on the lawn. The RiverFront is a space for kids and those who are kids at heart.

After grabbing lunch from one of the many downtown food trucks and restaurants, the attendees gathered at Lauritzen Gardens. Victoria Schoell-Schafer, chief operating officer of the botanic garden, welcomed us and introduced Jim Locklear, the director of conservation. Jim shared a slide presentation with information about Lauritzen Gardens. NNLA members learned that 210,000 people have visited the gardens so far this year including many children on educational tours. The gardens have 60 full time employees and an additional 20-30 seasonal employees and interns. Jim describes Lauritzen Gardens as “a museum for plants” and that they work at “building collections” such as their collection of magnolias. The gardens is actively involved in rare plant conservations, especially with the blowout penstemon of the Nebraska sandhills. Being along the Missouri River, the gardens serve as an important stopover location for migrating birds. Lauritzen Gardens performs biodiversity surveys each year and have found so many birds and insects using the gardens. The horticulturists use this information to improve how they care for the gardens. For example, they found very little insect activity near the front entrance of the park when it was switched out to chrysanthemums in the fall. As a result, they delay taking out the summer annuals as long as possible and have used more asters which are a fall-blooming plant the insects love. They have also introduced controlled burns as part of managing the 100 acre site and the horticulture team has noticed an improvement in the health of the prairie areas after they are burned.

Attendees were then allowed to take one of three walking tours through different areas of the gardens. One group toured the Parking Garden, Arrival Garden, Prairie areas, Marjorie K. Daughtry Conservatory and Festival Garden. Another group strolled through the Hitchcock-Kountze Victorian Garden, English Perennial Border, Garden in the Glen and Arboretum and Oberman Bird Sanctuary. The third group took the tram to the far end of the park to visit the Robert H. Storz Family Rose Garden, Color Burst, Claire M. Hubbard Plant Production Center, and Japanese Park. Leigh, the lead horticulturist for the Parking, Arrival and Festival Gardens, mentioned that bagworms had been particularly bad at Lauritzen Gardens this year. They have them sprayed by a subcontractor. In general, however, they try to avoid spraying chemicals whenever possible and do a lot of hand weeding. Recently they renovated the entry pond and added some bioswales in the median beds uphill from the pond. They have densely planted those areas with Carex species to minimize erosion and to filter out contaminants. Horticulturists, Leticia and Nora led one group through the Marjorie K. Daughtry Conservatory. One portion of the conservatory is modeled after the climate of Charleston, SC or Savannah, GA which are zones 7-9. There are live oaks, crepe myrtle and magnolias. Nora mentioned that they hope to encourage visitors to “utilize all senses and create an experience.” Leticia led us through the tropical portion of the conservatory. There are bananas, cacti, orchids, and creeping fig. Sometimes plants grow too fast or too large and have to be removed from the conservatory gardens. One takeaway is that the caretakers of these gardens must be very flexible and roll with the punches. Hosting a variety of events and almost constant new construction means the gardens are always changing and they can’t get too attached to any one space or one plant.

After the tours attendees were allowed to spend some time visiting any parts of the 100 acre garden they may have missed. Lauritzen Gardens graciously hosted a reception, coordinated by Allison and Kyle, for the NNLA members featuring delicious hors d’oeuvres and beverages. NNLA appreciates all the time and effort that was put into hosting the Summer Field Day by the entire Lauritzen Gardens team even as they were preparing for the annual antiques show. The weather was beautiful, the RiverFront and Lauritzen Gardens dazzled, and the reception was a lovely way to close out the day with networking and laughter.