Our Native Pollinator Garden

WHY NATIVE PLANTS?

We want to support birds, insects and pollinators in our community, and there’s no better way than to have a garden of native plants! Plants and insects co-evolved over many thousands of years, and many insects and butterflies require native plants to live and reproduce. For example, monarch butterflies only eat milkweed leaves and only lay eggs on the milkweed plant. Without a thriving insect population, we cannot have a thriving bird population. And by supporting pollinators, we are supporting the flowers, fruit and vegetables that grow around us.

Other reasons for planting native plants:

· They have deeper roots and are better at storing greenhouse gases

· They require less water

· They are better adapted to our soil and don’t need fertilizer

· They are low maintenance

· They are beautiful!

HISTORY

In September 2022, we started a Native Pollinator Garden in front of our school. This area had a weeping cherry tree and some lovely bushes, planted by our PTO, but it also had invasive weeds that had taken over all the unplanted areas. We began by pulling out weeds in the fall. In the spring, the most invasive weed (goutweed or bishops weed) had come back in full force and taken over almost all of the garden. This weed spreads through its rhizomes (which grow about 28 inches a year), so we had to dig up the plant and all the underground weeds. Any bit of weed left could grow into another plant! (Two years later, we are still digging goutweed out of the garden, but most of it is gone.)

In March of 2023, we received a grant to Village Bank to purchase native plants from Garden in the Woods. Some of the plants were eaten by the bunnies, and other plants were added from our own gardens. Every year, the garden grows and changes a little bit.

OUR PLANTS:

Thanks to the Village Bank, and cuttings from our own gardens, we were able to add lots of native plants to our garden. Here is our plant list.

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