July 24, 2003


Photo by Alex von Kleydorff
Teresa Mucci surveys the Keeler Ridge Meadow, off Ridgefield Rd that is in full bloom.

Keeler Ridge an

'extraordinary display'


By LEE HIGGINS
Staff Writer


Project Manager Teresa Mucci never imagined Keeler Ridge Meadow would be so lush just one year after the nearly five-acre Wilton Land Trust parcel was seeded.
Now, monarch butterflies eat the milweed there, the flowers stand more than five feet tall and Wiltonians have another place to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.
"This is just an extraordinary display," said Mucci of the meadow, located off Ridgefield Road in North Wilton. "There are fat juicy specimens just way ahead of schedule."
Mucci learned the art of meadow restoration as a student in the master gardener program (part of UConn extension) at the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford. "Their whole purpose is to teach good agricultural practices to people in the state," said Mucci. Now, she is studying landscape design at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Last summer, Mucci and a team of other volunteers cut Keeler

Ridge Meadow to stubble and seeded it with more than 60 varieties. It currently boasts heah aster, verbena, mallow, teasels, coneflowers, ox-eyed daisies, and black-eyed susans.
But Mucci is keeping a watchful eye on invasive species like bittersweet, Japanese knotweed, multiflora rose and Canada thistle.
"They have to be removed," she said.
Director of Environmental Affairs Pat Sesto said invasive species "as a whole are a problem because they outcarry our native vegetation and in the long run reduce our species diversity." Invasives also tend to decrease an areas's carrying capacity for wildlife commuinuties," Sesto said.
While Keeler Ridge Meadow is thriving, Mucci wants to do more. She plans to cut meandering trails through the meadow, possibly add some benches and put up signs. The signs we are going to put in will be to identify the plant species so people know what's out here," said Mucci. The only major maintenance the meadow requires will be an annual cut of four to six inches in March.
 Depending on the weather, Mucci said flowers could bloom late into the fall. "Every couple of weeks you have a totally different combination of flowers and colors," said Mucci. "It's sort of evolving. We're just taking care of it."
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection recently awarded a $2,589 Fiscal Year 2003 Clean Water Act grant for the restoration project with a $1,726 matching requirement.
The grants promote alternatives to "high maintenance turf grass" which help attract wildlife and benefit water quality, according to DEP Watershed Coordinator Chris Malik. "They're going to try and fund us every year," said Mucci.
Mucci finds her regular visits to Keeler Ridge Meadow refreshing. "There's just something soothing to it," she said. "I don't think you can be around natural beauty like this and not be moved by it."

©2003 The Hour