Parkways for pollinators gardens

There are two Parkways for Pollinators garden options:  sun or shade.

Depending on the location of your garden it will contain native plants that prefer full sun or partial shade. Sun gardens need to receive 6+ hours a day of full sun to be successful. The shade gardens need only 3+ hours of full sunlight (or 4 to 5 hours of dappled sunlight) to grow.

Please note that the exact plant assortment included in each garden is subject to change based upon plant availability.  

   

Sunshine Monarch Garden

  • Size: Gardens should be approximately 4’ x 10’, in an organic shape
  • Full sun is considered to be 6+ hours
  • Location: Minimum of 8 feet from a tree trunk
  • Pollinators attracted to sun garden:
    • Long-tongued bees, short-tongued bees
    • Small to medium-sized butterflies and skippers
    • Silvery Checkerspot and Monarch caterpillars will feed
    • Asclepias (Butterfly Weed) is a Monarch host plant for larval food and egg laying
    • Sporobolus and Schizachrium will feed birds
    • Rudbeckia (Showy Black Eyed Susan) feeds goldfinches, nuthatches, cardinals, sparrows
  • Plants in the sun garden:
    1. Dalea Purpurea - Purple Prairie Clover (5 plants)
    2. Rudbeckia Fulgida - Showy Black Eyed Susan (2 plants)
    3. Echinacea Purpurea - Purple Coneflower (5 plants)
    4. Schizachrium Scoparium - Little Bluestem (3 plants)
    5. Asclepias Tuberosa - Butterfly Weed (5 plants)
    6. Symphyotrichum Oblongifolium - Aromatic Aster (3 plants)

  • Watering requirements:  Will depend on the weather conditions but the newly planted garden will need to be watered for the first few weeks at a minimum

Shade pollinator garden

  • Size: Gardens will be approximately 4’ x 10’, in an organic shape
  • Sun: Shade plants need 3 hours minimum of full sunlight to be relatively viable. 4-5 hours of full sun is best. 4-5 hours of dappled sunlight is okay. Not much grows without any sunlight.
  • Location: Minimum of 8 feet from a tree trunk
  • Pollinators attracted to shade garden:
    • Carex pensylvancia (Common Oak Sedge) can host 36 species of caterpillars
    • Aquilegia (Eastern Red Columbine) attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, hawk moths
    • Itea provides protective cover for birds
  • Plants in the shade garden:
    1. Carex Pensylvanica – Common Oak Sedge (5 plants)
    2. Aquilegia Canadensis - Eastern Red Columbine (3 plants)
    3. Heuchera Richardsonii - Prairie Alumroot (3 plants)
    4. Geranium Maculatum - Wild Geranium (1 plant)
    5. Itea Virginica - Virginia Sweetspire (1 plant)

  • Watering requirements:  Will depend on the weather conditions but the newly planted garden will need to be watered for the first few weeks at a minimum.

Watering and Garden Care

  • You will receive watering instructions from the Deep Roots Project.
  • Your seedlings will need lots of water in first 2 weeks.
  • Pull weeds before they get big.
  • Native plants don‘t need to be fertilized.

Steps in the Process

  • Pick a garden location.
  • Arrange a meeting time with the Deep Roots Project to visit the location of the garden.
  • The Deep Roots Project will help decide if it will be a sun or shade garden.
  • The Deep Roots Project will visit the garden site prior to planting and will remove the grass and prepare the garden for planting. 
  • On the day of the planting, the Deep Roots Project will bring the plants and the tools and equipment for planting them.
  • The Deep Roots Project will both lead adults and kids in planting the garden.
  • The Deep Roots Project will also explain the “Healthy Lawn, Healthy Family” pledge to not use toxic chemicals on your lawns and gardens.