Pollinator Planting for a Community Garden, Bronx, NY
Commissioned by the Friends of the High Line as part of their Community Parks Initiative
Conducted in collaboration with NYC Parks Dept GreenThumb
Installation services provided by Alpine Construction and Landscaping Corp.
For ease of care, they are also disease resistant, non-aggressive, and drought tolerant once established .
The selected plants rank high as food sources and nest/host sites. The majority are native to our region.
To serve a wide range of pollinators, eighteen perennial species and cultivars of mixed flower forms, plus three shrub species, offer constant but changing blooms throughout the growing season.
This planting, along the street edge of the Rainbow Block Association Community Garden, was designed to serve beneficial insects and birds and to invite neighborhood engagement and garden membership. It had to be easily manageable by gardeners inexperienced with herbaceous perennials.
The planting is set in raised beds, In keeping with the Community Garden's style, but shaped to fit the existing landscape and made of fine cedar wood.
As with many urban sites, this project was challenged by its location atop the foundation and rubble of a former building and by the presence of a large Ailanthus tree that had sown itself into the rubble.
Light conditions are such that virtually every plant spends part of the day in full sun and part in the heavy shade of buildings and dense trees.
The garden was installed in Fall 2018. Workshops in the care of pollinator perennials were held in June 2019 and September 2019. Others have been planned.
