Landscape designer, Palm Beach win Smith garden award

The makeover of Lake Drive Park almost didn’t happen, but the landscape design firm that created the redesign and the town jointly received the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach’s Lesly S. Smith Landscape Award on Tuesday for the reimagined historic park.

Town Council members, town officials and Keith Williams, landscape designer and partner with Nievera Williams, which donated its services for the project, attended the event at the Preservation Foundation’s headquarters at 311 Peruvian Ave.

“The reason why we felt that Lake Drive Park was so worthy of the Smith Award was that it is really the first example of using native plants on a large scale in a town-owned green space,” said Amanda Skier, Preservation Foundation president and CEO.

“It is a wonderful example of a public/private partnership and of the incredible generosity of the residents of the Town of Palm Beach,” Skier said.

The Lesly S. Smith Landscape Award, founded in 2011, is named in honor of former mayor and foundation trustee Lesley S. Smith. Smith presented the award to Mayor Danielle Moore, who is her daughter, and to Williams.

The 6.5-acre park south of the Royal Park Bridge’s entrance into town now incorporates more than 30 species of native plants, expansive lawns, paver walkways, dog fountains and decorative benches at the vista adjacent to the Town Marina.

Nievera Williams' approach differed from that at Bradley Park, which was redone in 2017 with small areas of native plants. Pan’s Garden, an all-native half-acre botanical garden at the Preservation Foundation, is filled with native plants, but at Lake Park Drive the plants are grouped by singular species for more of an impact, Skier said.

“Five years later, there is a concerted effort to make these public parks a majority of the plants be native,” Skier said. “That really speaks to the success of the town’s green initiative to educate residents on the dangers of pesticides and fertilizers and the success of the native plant ordinance, which was first introduced in 2019."

The park, part of the Royal Park Bridge historic district, is landmarked. A 1930 plan for Palm Beach commissioned by the Garden Club of Palm Beach called out the bridge and surrounding area as the showcase entrance to the town.

But before the renovations in 2021, it consisted of a grassy area, royal palms, expanses of asphalt, some long-standing banyan trees and a couple of other trees such as silk floss, which remain along with the banyans.

The original plan to build a new $38 million Town Marina, a super-yacht destination, did not include any changes to the park. But a redesign effort began with a fundraising campaign led by interior designer Scott Snyder. The public/private fundraising partnership raised $2.5 million.

“It really is magnificent. Having it not addressed would not have been ideal. It is like a backyard or front yard to residents who live in that neighborhood. There are a lot of condominiums there. It is a wonderful backdrop for marina patrons as well as those who use the Lake Trail,'' Deputy Town Manager Carolyn Stone said.

“It was not in the initial plan to do it as part of the marina project. I am really pleased that the Town Council gave us the go-ahead and decided to do it,” Stone said.

Williams, who gave a presentation about the project Tuesday, said his involvement began with a phone call from Snyder asking if he would work with him on the park project, as he was putting together a team and had clients who wanted to raise money.

“I said yes in about two seconds,” said Williams, who has worked on the island for about 25 years. The firm, which is based in West Palm Beach, has offices in New York City, Miami and Tampa. “I have a difficult time saying no, and I love what I do. I feel like our firm is part of the fabric of the island, and we would do anything for the island.”

The first challenge was that some of the design work had already been done, and perhaps eight months remained before the plan was due. Another challenge was working with all the various residents, groups, associations, the council and the Architectural Commission. Then, there are people from all over the world arriving at the marina.

“Trying to get all those people on the same page was extremely challenging,” Williams said.

“It was grass, a seawall, asphalt and a few royal palms, the most boring thing you can ever imagine. The boats were the beautiful part,” Williams said.

Permeable pavers were installed, the asphalt was reduced. Crushed coral and gravel replaced the mulch under the banyans. Diseased royal palms were removed and replaced with coconut palms. The coconut palms reflect the character and feel of the Lake Trail as seen in historic photos, Williams said.

“I wanted it to feel organic and natural and not forced. Pan’s is more of a garden. This is a broader mass of native materials,” Williams said, adding he made sure there were no hedgerows.

Among the 80 to 100 native trees featured at the park are the orange geiger, green buttonwood, seagrape, sabal palm, thatch palm, gumbo limbo and pigeon plum. Approximately 30 different species of native shrubs were used, with about 20,000 native plants installed including the silver saw palmetto, wild coffee, fire bush, green cocoplum, Simpson’s stopper, coontie, Fakahatchee grass and silver buttonwood.

“There was a lot of talk back and forth about native plants and sustainability. I still to this day don’t think everyone is aligned with what that actually means. My own garden is pretty much all native. I am enjoying a lot of butterflies and wildlife and birds,” Williams said.

Williams said the project has been rewarding. On Tuesday, a woman from Greenwich, Conn., approached Williams at the event, and said she loves butterflies, but could not seem to attract them to her garden. She was thrilled when she visited the park and observed hundreds on one bush.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach honors both