What a beautiful way to spend Earth Day! AmeriCorps Cape Cod generously provided a Service Day to sprucing up the pollinator gardens established by the Friends of Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge and the Town of Mashpee’s Conservation Department. Members of the Friends were also present to assist in the fun. We cut back stalks, exposed seedlings, removed encroaching vegetation, pruned back excessive growth, recreated boundaries, and planted/seeded some additional flowering species. It is highly advised that this type of work occur only when temperatures reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit and above for a week, as a lot of the stalks and leaf litter provide breeding habitat for many invertebrate species- which we were sure to adhere to! We worked in the gardens located at the Community Gardens, Pickerel Cove, Jehu Pond, Santuit Pond, and Red Brook Road.
These gardens provide a source of nectar and pollen and host plants for a variety of native pollinator species throughout spring into fall, including bumblebees, moths, butterflies, and beetles. Pollinators have been declining due to habitat loss, excessive landscaping, and herbicide/pesticide use, and these gardens provide an invaluable ecological service through these food and breeding islands. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and we cannot thank AmeriCorps enough for their invaluable assistance!
We added the following plants and seed mixes to the gardens:
- butterfly weed
- oxeye daisy
- dill
- anise hyssop (seed and plants)
- New England aster
- cosmos (seed)
- lupine (seed)
- sunflower (seed)
Please consider adding native flowering species to your landscape to help the important pollinators in our area!
