SCNPS Vision for Reedy River Falls Park in Greenville

The Reedy River is a typical small river of the upper Piedmont , with shoaly areas where water spills over rocky breaks in the slope of the bed. The Reedy drains a mixed rural/urban watershed, with forests, pastures, agricultural fields, golf courses, roofs, pavements and areas being cleared for development. Fortunately for Greenvillians, the Reedy cascades over a magnificent waterfall right downtown. The Reedy then winds for almost a mile through a large park setting.

Scientists have shown that it takes a certain minimum size and scale in a natural area before it can support a natural wildlife community. The park corridor along the Reedy is large enough to function effectively as a wildlife habitat that approaches wild land in terms of wildlife and plant diversity.

But it takes more than a minimum scale for an area to be good wildlife habitat. Native trees, shrubs and understory plants, with native grasses and wildflowers along borders between forest and open areas have been shown to increase dramatically the numbers of songbirds, small mammals and insects, such as butterflies and dragonflies. This kind of habitat will allow red-tailed and marsh hawks, and owls to find a home there. The native trees, shrubs, grasses and wildflowers bring their own interest to an area, beyond their value for wildlife.

The grey-green bark of the sycamores which flourish along Piedmont watercourses; red maples that frame the growing season with red flowers and seeds in the spring, and red to yellow leaves in the fall; the tall, stately pines with their year-round green crowns; the pinks and reds of the native azaleas in the understory; the raucous gold of summer- and fall-flowering native sunflowers; the subtle change from green to blue to red in the colors of the native grasses, like Indiangrass, our State grass. All imbue a scene with the ultimate in natural appearance.

This is the vision that the SC Native Plant Society would like to promote to Greenvillians. We do not seek to exclude non-native plantings and formal settings from the Park plan. Certain high visual impact areas are needed, which call for a manicured look, clipped lawns and neat, colorful beds. These types of plantings demand high maintenance, pest control and regular attention. For much of the area of the Park, however, we feel that introducing, and encouraging, native grasses and wildflowers, native understory shrubs and native trees is the best plan for the space. Native plants are beautiful, they are magnets for native wildlife, and they are low-maintenance. And they are what the Native Americans and Richard Pearis beheld as they strolled along the Reedy almost 300 years ago.

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