This summer, the Brewster Ladies’ Library will have two new native pollinator gardens!
Check out the design concepts HERE.
Do you care about climate resilience, biological diversity, and healthy ecological systems? If so, you will be pleased to learn about our two new native pollinator gardens at the library.
Last spring, assistant youth services librarian, Gabrielle Griffis, coordinated the design concept of the gardens with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod‘s (APCC) 2023 Eco-Landscape Audit Team (Kristin Andres, Ben Silverstone, Hailey Philbrick, & Aly Milando) as well as the installation with Edible Landscapes of Cape Cod (Dave Scandurra, Shara Mooney, & Dan LePage) with the intention of creating ecologically restorative habitat that promotes biodiversity and education regarding native biomes for people of all ages. This summer, with partial funding from an Eddy grant procured by library Director Brittany Taylor, the gardens are being installed.
APCC’s Eco-landscape Audit program is aimed at helping homeowners make their landscapes more ecologically friendly by providing site-specific assessments and oodles of information for the DIYers or those that want to be more informed to hire the right landscape contractor.
APCC offers a Cape Cod Native Plant database to help individuals select the right plants for their gardens and landscapes, which can be accessed at capecodnativeplants.org.
These gardens are also inspired by Homegrown National Park whose mission is to combat ecological collapse by “adding native plants and removing invasive ones everywhere we live, work, learn, and play.”
Sometimes native plants can be difficult to source, and Edible Landscapes did their best to procure as many native species as possible with some substitutions when certain plants were unavailable. Here are examples of some of the plants: Blue Mistflower, Foxglove beardtongue, Black-eyed Susan, Wild Bergamot, Eastern Bluestar, Canada Columbine, Blue Wood Aster, Purple Lovegrass, Canada Wild Rye, and Little Blue Stem. From the design, Dave used his expertise to modify according to the terrain, sun, and soil conditions and what plants were available.
As Homegrown National Park notes, “A native plant is a species that naturally occurs within a specific ecosystem (without human intervention) and shares an evolutionary history with the other species in that area. These relationships make them crucial for the health and productivity of that ecosystem. Without them, ecosystem services collapse, threatening the systems our communities depend on to survive.”
So, if you’re visiting the library, take a look at these new gardens and check out the above resources if you’re inspired to steward healthier landscapes for all!
