Drought Resistant Plants Drowning in Harbor View Park

CAPE MAY – Harbor View Park is looking a bit overgrown and over watered, according to Interim City Manager Bruce MacLeod.
At a Tuesday Sept. 23 City Council meeting, he called the park refurbishment project “a little bit of a struggle to finalize.”
He said the lawn did not turn out as expected as the result of the project’s contractor, Albrecht and Huen, using a hose with a sprinkler which sent to water to mounds that contained drought resistant plants, flowers and shrubs that needed little irrigation. MacLeod said some plants died from over watering.
He said the city’s engineer has asked Albrecht and Huen to remedy the problem by reseeding the lawn and directing water intended for the grass away from the mounds of plantings and to replace the drought resistant plants and one tree that died.
Sidewalks in the park will converge to a marble compass rose, the symbol seen on maps and navigation charts showing the indication of north, south, east and west. The compass rose, which was donated to the city, will be recessed in concrete at foot level in the sidewalk by an independent contractor, said MacLeod.
Jessie Weeks, chairwoman of the city’s Parks and Gardens Committee, said that MacLeod was very helpful and problems with the park “were no fault of his.” She said the mounds in the park were continuing to be watered making them soggy.
Weeks said the watering was encouraging the growth of weeds “that were almost tree high.” She said the lawn had some “real grass” as well as patches of weeds.
Weeks said the contractor should have installed a landscaping fabric to stop weeds before putting plants on the mounds. She said the scope of weeding needed went beyond what volunteers could handle.
“Who is going to maintain this?” asked Weeks. “It’s a big park,”
She said the parks and garden committee would help as much as it could.
MacLeod said he has some good news, a change order reducing the cost of park refurbishment by almost $1,300 since 21 feet of curbing was determined not to be necessary