New at the ‘daylighted’ Broad Branch stream: Places to sit and enjoy the view

One of the new picnic tables alongside the Broad Branch stream. (photos by Paul Walters)

by Paul Walters

The beautiful, revitalized parkland that Forest Hills gained as a result of the Broad Branch Creek daylighting completed in 2015 recently received an additional boost.

New picnic tables were purchased and installed as part of a District Department of Energy and Environment grant awarded to Katrina Weinig.

These tables are located along the pathway, and provide a pleasant place to stop, watch the birds, and enjoy the plantings that were also installed as part of Katrina’s DOEE grant, following Darlene Robbins’ landscape design.

Along with the tables, a walk in the Broad Branch woodlands will lead you to a rustic “council circle” built by local Eagle Scouts.

The council circle is a ring of tree stumps set among the trees along the waterside – a perfect place to sit with a group of friends and enjoy the peaceful setting.

UPDATE: Darlene Robbins sent us this note after we published the piece.

[Council circles] have their roots in Native American culture, providing everyone in the circle with equal seating and the opportunity to engage in discussion. [The Danish landscape architect Jens] Jensen tapped into the form and the egalitarian notion, incorporating beautiful stone council rings into many of his naturalistic designs in the mid-western prairielands of Illinois and Wisconsin in the early 1900s. Darrel Morrison, a contemporary landscape designer whom I’ve met, has continued the practice, most notably at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

As a big admirer of both Jensen and Morrison, in their homage I included a rustic (and very humble) council ring as part of my design for the Broad Branch Park. I thought a ring at the far end of the park, where the stream takes a sharp turn along the dramatically steep hillside, would be a nice way to invite school groups (or any visitor) to sit and enjoy the surroundings. We planted 3 Pawpaw trees there for added interest. The circle is designed as a walk-through, meaning it allows trail passage through the center.

We were lucky that a local scout, Pablo Laguarda, took on the task as his Eagle Scout project…. He and his troop did a really nice job building it and putting their own style to it. They also added a log seating area upstream along the creek. I think they may plan to install a small sign of some sort nearby the ring, as I noticed a post there the other day when I stopped by.