I’m excited to look for Palms, and do so using soil maps of the area to generally pick where some species might be.
Soil Map:
This is a map of my Area of Interest, including the Denham Springs Conservation and Frenchtown Road. Frenchtown Road Park:
We hiked Frenchtown Park earlier this semester with my studio class. It is a BREC Park and features a grove of Bamboo native to Louisiana. The Bamboo trail has a lot of soil diversity, which I’m able to tell by comparing the two maps below. Looking at the Denham Springs Conservation ( I also call this the Amite River Easement), I’m seeing some soil diversity at the edges of the conservation– where the roads and development ends and at the edge of the water–especially where the beaches are.
DRb, SAb, OUa soil types appear closest the Bamboo Trail. DRb is a very fine sandy soils, SAb is silty loam and OUa is also silty loam, but more frequently flooded. OUa is the dominant soil in the region. Since the other soils are minor, and they have similar characteristics to the major soil, they are called non-contrasting. Minor soil types with different characteristics than their parents are called contrasting.
I would expect contrasting minor soil types where the bamboo grows, because Bamboo, a monocot, is unlike the other trees in the Spruce Pine Forest.
When we visit the Denham Springs Easement, I’m hoping we can follow a guide of trails. The paths used to be maintained by the owner of the property. I even believe I made note of which house along the easement owned the property and maintained the trails. We should visit him and ask his permission to explore the land.
In addition to the trails told verbally to me during the community meeting, I’d like to find Palms, Bamboo and other contrasting forest elements. Here is a draft of trails that I made, based on the topography:
This is a picture of my analysis partially completed.
This is an earlier version of the trails I designed, following the topography to bridge as few waterways as possible.
Based on my trip and this experience, I’m hoping to make new recommendations as to the soil types we should be cultivating in downtown planters for things like Pixelated Parking, bioswales and raised or sunken planters. I’m also interested in furthering my knowledge of plants that might span the gap from being natural wilderness-living to living in the urban setting. The soil types downtown might be altogether unsuitable for any infiltration, and very minimal plant growth. In this case I’ll have to learn the flora that live in nutrient-poor soils, and how to combine them with plants that can at least start a growth cycle in poor soils before dying back. To get seasonal interest, I’ll have to find something else that stays over the winter.
Plan of entry: Park at Spring Park. After passing into the wetland area east of Spring Park, continue straight West, or if we encounter another trail, take South.
The Middle: There is to be a trail running directly to a beach in-between the yellow and the blue trails (see map below). If we don’t encounter it, it might be safest and easiest to head due West, find the Amite and follow it due South until we can hit the Railroad tracks, then follow them back (Red Trail below).
Time: I expect this route to take one to two hours. It’s about 3.5 miles total, and if we hike at a 20 minute mile pace, it will take about 1 hour and ten minutes. With stops it will take about two hours.
We will depart LSU at 2:00pm, travel for a half hour and arrive at 2:30pm. We will return at 5pm, depending on how long we hike for.
This is supposed to be a fun trip so please bring water, snacks and a good attitude to share! I will reserve a Zip Car for 3.5 hours @$10/ hr. If you have a car to offer, please let me know and we’ll use your ride instead.
This is a VW beetle and not a Zipcar.
Chadd G Hippensteel 