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Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden
Issue 191, January 15, 2006

PICTURE: The Mill River and Long Island Sound (West Branch of the Stamford Harbor) , looking south on the Pulaski Street Bridge Stamford, CT, Jan 2006

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 9, January 21, 2006

note: This entry is part of a series on Stamford's Mill River. Click here for the introductory page to the series.

GREENWICH AVENUE: Washington Boulevard runs down the east side of the river, from Bulls Head almost all the way to the sea. There is no single roadway flanking the west side of the Mill River until the Cherry Park.

At the Park itself, the street that creates the park's west border is called Mill River Street. A block south, at the Ruined Bridge (officially, the Main Street bridge), the roadway becomes West Main Street. A block farther south, at the merger with Tresser Boulevard, West Main turns west, and the street going south is now called Greenwich Avenue, a name which it mercifully retains, until its end at Southfield Park toward the south end of the West Branch of Stamford Harbor. While Greenwich Avenue does not go to Greenwich, the continuation of West Main, under another name, does. This illustrates why many Stamford residents do not bother to learn the street names.

THE BRIDGES: Following Greenwich Avenue south, each east-west cross street has its own river bridge. These bridges visually define and shape the space.

PICTURE: View looking north toward the Ruined Bridge, from the northeast corner of West Main and Tresser. Jan. 2006. This popular basket ball court is in the area where the new playground will be build. The new riverwalk and bike path is to the left, at the side of the roadway. A foot path follows along the river bank to the right.

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 8, January 21, 2006

note: This entry is part of a series on Stamford's Mill River. Click here for the introductory page to the series.

PICTURE: View from the south of the west side of the Cherry Park, looking northeast at the Cherry Park west, and the West Broad Street bridge. Jan. 2006

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 7, January 21, 2006

note: This entry is part of a series on Stamford's Mill River. Click here for the introductory page to the series.

This section of the Mill River tour covers the east side of the Cherry Park and the now-fenced-off lands between Washington Boulevard and the Mill River below West Broad Street, waiting to become part of the park.

PICTURE: View from the west side of the Cherry Park, looking northeast at the West Broad Street bridge, UConn, and Target. Jan 2006.

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 6, January 21, 2006

note: This entry is part of a series on Stamford's Mill River. Click here for the introductory page to the series.

PICTURE: looking north from the West Broad Street bridge at the Mill River; to the right is the UConn parking garage. Jan. 2006. Click here to view same scene in the fall of 2003.

The Mill River riverwalk, that ends at North Street, starts again south of West Broad Street in what is informally called the "Cherry Park" (It's official name du jour is the Mill River Park). Broad Street is a main east-west Stamford thoroughfare, running past the Landmark Towers (mall and office complex), the Ferguson Library, Target, and UConn. As Broad Street crosses the river, it becomes "West Broad Street" and continues up the hill, west pass the hospital complex.

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 5, January 21, 2006

note: This entry is part of a series on Stamford's Mill River. Click here for the introductory page to the series.

The Mill River riverwalk in Stamford, CT, begins just south of Bulls Head and runs south between the east bank of the river and Washington Boulevard down to the foot path at the base of Scalzi Park. Here, the river turns west-southwest away from Washington Boulevard. The walker can go south along the sidewalk and pick up the river again at the Broad Street Bridge. If you go over the footpath, instead, the riverwalk continues along what's now the north bank, at the south end of Scalzi Park, south of J.M. Wright Tech, to Cloonan Middle School on North Street. There, the river walk ends and the walker needs to resort to the side streets until the riverwalk resumes at Broad Street.

Older homes and businesses line much of the banks along this strip; there are also some highrises. For the most part, the water is confined between old stone walls.

PICTURE: Looking north the Mill River, from the Woodside Firehouse, just south of the Scalzi foot bridge. Summer 2005. This side of the river is lined by a stone wall, across the river is the path to Cloonan. The trees between the viewer and the water are red maples, except the second one from the right is a silver maple. Note its shaggy bank.

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 4, January 20, 2006

note: This entry is part of a series on Stamford's Mill River. Click here for the introductory page to the series.

Click here (link to be added) to view the section of the riverwalk across from Scalzi Park.

PICTURE: View of Scalzi Park from the northwest side of the roadway that circles the playing fields, Oct. 2005. To the left are the main baseball fields. The children's playground is directly ahead under the impressive red oaks. The J.M. Wright Technical High School is to the right.

PICTURE: Bench at the side of the bocce court in the northwest corner of the Scalzi Park, December 2004. The variety of games and teams, formal and informal, at Scalzi Park reflect the town's rich international heritage. Many, many languages are spoken here. If you look closely, under the bench is one of the Park's black squirrels (actually, they are sable) which were much in evidence in 2004 but much harder to spot this winter (2005-2006).

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 3, January 19, 2006

note: This entry is part of a series on Stamford's Mill River. Click here for the introductory page to the series.

Click here (link to be added) to view Bridge Street Bridge and the section of the riverwalk north of Scalzi Park.

The section of the riverwalk along the Mill River across from Scalzi Park is long enough for a brisk 10 to 15 minute walk but it can take a naturalist an hour or two since there is so much to see. On the map, this part of the riverwalk runs along Washington Boulevard, from Bridge Street to the firehouse across from the west end of Woodside Street. Click here to tour Scalzi Park (text and pictures to be updated soon).

This tiny pocket of peace and quiet wedged in between a recreational park and a major 4- lane highway teems with amazingly diverse plant life, including just about every dreaded invader as well as countless stout natives. The wild flowers that live along here include joe pye weed, common milkweed, skunk cabbage, woodbine, and several other native vines. There are also some amazing wild sunflowers. See generally, this article on swamp and bog plants.

The banks also provide a home for rabbits, muskrats, all kinds of birds, and, of course, squirrels, both gray and black. In the summer, you can sit in the sun on the edge of the walkway and watch the kingfishers and egrets fish for minnows.

PICTURE: Looking north toward the Bridge Street Bridge at sunset on MLK day, Jan 2006. One of the many willows along the river is highlighted by the setting sun. To the left, screening Washington Boulevard, is a row of Parks Department-planted red-family oaks which are getting to a decent size.

PICTURE: Close-up of new leaves of a cottonwood, May 2005. The eastern cottonwoods along this part of the river are lovely, tall, straight trees with giant spiky winter buds, subtly beautiful spring catkin-flowers, medium green spade-shaped leaves that tremble in the summer breeze like their aspen cousins, and yellow fall color. Near the tallest the cottonwood toward the north end of the walk is a delightful little alder.

PICTURE: The east bank of the river along north half of the riverwalk at Scalzi is lined with pussy willows, these members of the salix family hold down the bank in major floods, are favorite nesting spots for our small songbirds, and are munched on by several insects that, in turn, provide food for birds and small reptiles.

Right along this part of the river walk, look for the orange and black flash of one of the Baltimore orioles that have moved in here in the past few years.

PICTURE: Standing on the west bank, toward the south end of Scalzi Park, looking east across the river at the riverwalk, May 2005. To the left are the yellow-green flowers of the native sassafras. Click here to view the violets carpeting the west bank. They are, unfortunately, mixed with the lovely but horribly aggressive alien lesser celandine (yellow flowers).

PICTURE: View from the riverwalk. All along the Mill River, if you look, you'll see culverts. Some empty water from streams that have been buried to allow construction, e.g. for the multiple family dwellings between Washington Boulevard and Summer Street. I don't know where the other culverts lead. We should all keep in mind, though, that all run-off from our yards, driveways, sidewalks, and streets, complete with pesticides, fertilizers, and petroleum residues, eventually ends up in the river and the Long Island Sound.

PICTURE: Midway along the riverwalk, a young male ash is leafing out in April 2005. Other trees along this strip, not pictured here, include a handsome young sycamore , several young elms, silver and red maples, and catalpa. View the ash in May 2005

PICTURE: Toward to south end of the riverwalk, looking north. Feb. 2006. Note the shallow bank which allows the river to expand when in flood and which provides nesting habitat for the ducks and geese. In summer, you'll see many infant mallards and Canada geese along here. The red twigs to the right are the winter look of the silky doogwod.

PICTURE: looking south along the riverwalk from about the same place as the last pciutre; summer 2005. The thicket of silky doogwod (cornus) to the left, once housed a muskrat family. Unfortunately, the muskrats (cute mini-beavers that don't make dams) seemed to have moved on due to too much interference by humans and dogs.

The native silky dogwood has clusters of white flowers in spring and blue berries in summer. The birds love the berries and use the thickets for nesting. In earlier times, baskets were made from the pliable twigs. Other native shrubs along the riverbank include viburnum, pussy willow, and a wonderful stand of elderberry. Click here to view the elderberry in August 2005.

Click here to view this same area when flooded. This picture, taken after the big rains in mid-December 2005, illustrates how calm the flood waters are when allowed to spread out naturally. It is when the banks are overly compressed and the water runs too fast that the floods do damage by ripping out the riverbanks and scouring the riverbeds.

PICTURE: Looking south on the riverwalk from just south of the dogwoods, towards the footbridge at the base of Scalzi park, Jan. 2004. To the right of the foot bridge is a fairly young multi-trunked silver maple which has already developed the shaggy, orange-undertoned gray bark of a mature tree. No river tour would be complete without mentioning the silver maples. These 24/7 glorious native trees and their red maple cousins are essential sources of food and habitat for the riparian community.

PICTURE: Multi-family goose nursery under the silver maple June 2005

PICTURE: Momma mallard with a large number of living babies under the same silver maple, July 2005

PICTURE: View of the footbridge from the south. Jan. 2006.

PICTURE: View of Washington Boulevard from the footbridge, illustrating our wonderful New England autumn color. 2005.

PICTURE: Male Mallard wintering at Scalzi Park

CLICK HERE TO:
CONTINUE TOUR (link to be added)
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Photo credits: Sue Sweeney © Sue Sweeney 2006

Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden

Issue 191, Part 2, January 18, 2006

Click here for the introductory page to this series on Stamford's Mill River.

The river begins up north in Ridgefield, CT and travels about 35 miles down to the Long Island Sound. Its official name on the map is the "Rippowam River"; "Rippowam" being a Native American name for part of the Stamford area. The river beings its journey through Stamford by feeding the North Stamford Reservoir.

PICTURE: View looking north on Interlaken Road, Stamford, CT, summer 2005, towards the southern dam of the North Stamford Reservoir. Here, as the river leaves the reservoir and begins its 8-mile trip through Stamford to the sea, it becomes know as "The Mill River".

After leaving the reservoir, the river wanders south and west through North Stamford, a wooded area of mostly detached single-family dwellings on fairly large plots.

The streams and ponds of the Bartlett Arboretum, and Stamford Museum and Nature Center, feed into the river, via the Poorhouse Brook, along the stretch below the reservoir.

PICTURE: the pond at the Bartlett Arboretum, Summer 2005, looking north.

Lower down the river is also fed by the Haviland Brook, and Ayers Brook. The Toilsome Brook (called "Tilesome" on a 1600's map), which runs through the Revonah area, feeds into the Mill River at Scalzi Park via an underground culvert.

At Cold Springs, the banks change from mostly single family residences on wooded lots to the low-rise apartment complexes that line most of Riverside Avenue. The neighborhood is slightly north of Scalzi Park.

PICTURE: Cold Springs Bridge looking south, Jan. 2006

The golf course to the east of Riverview Avenue has several water features that drain into the river along Riverside Avenue. Click here to view Canada geese on the fairway at dusk.

PICTURE: View the yard of one of the condos on Riverside Avenue that runs along the west side of the river. Jan. 2006

As the river reaches the part of town called Bulls Head, which marks the start of Downtown Stamford, the river makes a sharp turn to the southeast, and flows parallel to Washington Boulevard. Washington Boulevard was probably once a country road following the river, but is now a 4-lane, limited-access state highway.

Click here to view Washington Boulevard and the start of the town's riverwalk that begins just south of the bend.

The walk runs between the west side of Washington Boulevard and the east bank of the river. The city plows the path and cuts a swathe of grass on either side of the path. The river bank itself is allow to grow completely wild, so it is dense tangle of hardwood trees, shrubs, vines sheltering a thick bed of leaves and delicate spring wildflowers. Native treasures inhabiting this narrow strip include elms, shag-bark hickories, silver maples, red maples, hemlocks, red oaks, ash, ironwood, mulberry, black cherry, low-bush blue berries, the rare bladdernut bush, and spice bush. Invaders include the ubiquitous Norway maple, rosa mulitflora, Asiatic bittersweet, porcelain berry, honeysuckle, winged euonymus, barberry, and garlic mustard. There's even a mock orange shrub.

Just north of the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Bridge Street, there's an inconspicuous hut by the river. This hut is, in fact, a United States Geological Survey satellite up-link station that transmits data on the river's volume and velocity so that you can view the same on the web in real time at the USGS site.

PICTURE: the USGS hut on the river bank, north of Bridge street, looking west from the river walk. Summer 2005. The large trees to the left are a stand of awesome red maples. The houses in the background are on the river's west bank. Click here to view close-up of the USGS sign.

PICTURE: Looking back north from the Bridge Street bridge. Note the USGS equipment on the right bank. In this view, you can see a ripple of water where the river flows over the USGS' concrete river bed apron.

Walking south on the riverwalk, when you reach Bridge street, you can turn left into Stamford’s Scalzi Park/Cubeta Stadium (famed for Little League games) or continue down the river walk. If you continue down the riverwalk, here's the next view:

PICTURE: View of the Mill River, looking south from the Bridge Street Bridge, April 2005. We lost one of the big willows to the left in the micro-burst storm of August 2005. It now lies half in the river, providing food and habitat for the riverside critters. The micro-burst was like a mini-tornado, tearing north to south through town; it cost the City alone $180,000 for clearing downed trees (a lot of money for us) and has left parts of Bedford Street almost tree-less. Jan. 2006 view of willows

PICTURE: South side of the Bridge Street Bridge over the Mill River, looking North from the river walk, Jan. 2006.

PICTURE: The recently up-graded entrance to the riverwalk-bicycle path along the river at Scalzi Park, looking north towards the Bridge Street Bridge which is just visible in the upper left. Washington Boulevard is to the right. December 2005.

RETURN TO INTRODUCTION TO THIS ARTICLE

Photo credits: Sue Sweeney © Sue Sweeney 2006