Kingswood goes green with first initiative for new neighborhood group

Residents in the Kingswood neighborhood will make decisions this spring that will affect future generations.

The threat posed by emerald ash borers means that area, like many others in Sioux Falls, lost the ash trees that shaded streets, sidewalks and visitors to Kingswood’s most famous attraction, the annual rummage sale.

Residents in the area in southwestern Sioux Falls have the chance to replace those trees this spring, and Bryan Peterson, an urban forestry specialist with the city, is among those who hope they’ll take it.

“One of biggest reasons why property owners would turn them down is that they don’t want to be responsible for their care and maintenance afterward,” Peterson said. “The care and maintenance — it’s not as intensive as a lot of folks might think it is. And I feel like the benefits we get from community trees far outweigh that.”

Ellen Doerr said the loss of the ash trees has made a noticeable difference in her neighborhood. It’s not only the loss of trees on the boulevards but also in the front and back yards. No longer do people drive through a tunnel made by a canopy of trees. Some corner lots have had four trees removed, two on each side.

“We had a lot of established trees in the neighborhood that were quite large,” she said.

That’s why the recently established Kingswood Neighborhood, which she leads, chose reforestation as its first project. The group applied for and received a Neighborhood Grant from the city that will help residents pay for the cost of a new tree.

The Kingswood Neighborhood has had two official meetings and set up a Facebook page. Choosing a “green” initiative such as replacing boulevard trees will make a visual impact, showing what neighbors can accomplish as a group, Doerr said.

She is quite familiar with the neighborhood because she grew up in Kingswood.

“Growing up there, I have a lot of memories of ’90s and early 2000s, riding our bikes to friends’ houses after seeing where the other bikes were,” she said. “Our parents knew the other parents. It had a close-knit community feel. Now that I’ve moved back, I tend to realize that everybody is more online than engaged in person.”

When Doerr’s parents called her several years ago, told her they were thinking of moving and asked if she wanted to buy her childhood home, she didn’t hesitate. As a child, she couldn’t wait to move away, she said. As an adult, “it made so much sense to be back there. It feels so safe, and there’s such a good atmosphere.”

Sheryl Johnson has lived in the Kingswood neighborhood for 28 years. Johnson and her husband raised their four daughters there. They chose Kingswood because it was near her husband’s parents, had Oscar Howe Elementary as its neighborhood school and plans to build a middle school nearby were in the works.

“We have just loved it here,” Johnson said. “There have been lots of changes. There’s a core group of people. When we first moved here, there was a whole bunch of kids. Now, there are hardly any, but it’s revitalizing.”

Johnson hopes establishing the Kingswood Neighborhood group will bring more of a small-town feeling. Often, people come home from work, park in their garage and often don’t reemerge, she said. An occasional potluck brings people together; the Kingswood Neighborhood will provide more opportunities to socialize.

The Kingswood Neighborhood, while it may look at traffic and lighting issues, is not a group designed to police its neighbors, Doerr said. It’s not a homeowners’ association, with people unhappy if a neighbor leaves a garage door open. Instead, it will create connections, she said.

Goals to better the neighborhood will include other green initiatives, along with a traffic audit for areas of concern, particularly near Oscar Howe. Another goal likely will include signage to better identify the neighborhood, Doerr said. With the city planning improvements to nearby Kuehn Park, neighbors want to offer input on changes. The Kingswood Neighborhood boundaries include Sertoma Avenue to the west, Interstate 229 to the east, running north to south between 26th and 41st streets.

Doerr has been distributing applications to those interested in tree planting, and she expects planting to begin this month. Trees will be ordered from a nursery in Tea. Because permits are needed for tree planting, it’s helpful to the city to work with a neighborhood advocate to expedite the process.

“We’ll be able to identify the planting locations faster and approve them more efficiently,” Peterson said.

When Johnson’s family moved to Kingswood, the neighborhood had hardly any trees, she recalls. When people planted, ash trees were a popular choice. The Johnsons selected an ash for their yard, but it was cut down last year.

They haven’t replaced their tree yet but plan to do so. For one thing, they miss the shaded parking on the street. With four daughters and a couple of extra cars, being able to park in the shade was a benefit, Johnson said.

The city can recommend trees for homeowners that will meet their needs, Peterson said. The goal is to have such a variety planted that the city will never again have to deal with the massive loss of trees caused by infestations such as Dutch elm disease and the emerald ash borer.

“It is a tragic scenario when we lose a lot of trees, but it’s an opportunity in turn to plant back a greater diversity to our canopy so this doesn’t happen again in the future,” Peterson said. “We’re encouraging diversity in the type of trees we’re planting. We’re encouraging property owners to plant different trees. I feel really bad that we’re having to repeat history.”

Peterson joined the city of Sioux Falls in 2019, when the emerald ash borer began to be a concern. The trees he recommends will provide clearance over streets and sidewalks as they grow and will thrive in boulevards. A crab apple, for example, will not grow tall enough to maintain overheard clearance and needs better soil than found in boulevards.

These are some of the trees Peterson suggested that Kingswood residents — and others — might want to consider:

• Kentucky coffee tree. “It’s one of my favorites, but when you mention trees and talk to property owners, it would probably not be in a lot of folks’ top five,” Peterson said. “You don’t get coffee from it, but it does great in South Dakota, especially in the boulevard area where soils are so challenging.”
• Hybridized elm. People may shy away from elms, remembering Dutch elm disease, but these are resistant, Peterson said.
• Ginkgo. “It does really well at challenging sites and really well in droughty periods,” he said. You can see ginkgos outside the Washington Pavilion, where they are doing well.
• Buckeye. Even if you’re not an Ohio State fan, buckeyes do well here.
• Northern catalpa. That’s another overlooked tree, Peterson said. Seed pods look like giant green beans, and they can be cleaned up in the fall when leaves are raked. The Northern catalpa flowers in the middle of summer, Peterson said, and is as radiant as any crab apple. “It’s stellar,” he said.

There could be more tree planting in future years, Doerr said. While Kuehn Park already has some apple trees, Kingswood neighbors would like to see more fruit trees there.

One thing the Kingswood Neighborhood will never tackle is the long-established rummage sale. It has its own board of directors to oversee that. This year’s Kingswood Rummage Sale will run from April 30-May 3. Individual hours may vary, but it’s generally 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Listings for this year’s sale will be available April 25.