Skip to Navigation Skip to Content
Decorative woodsy background

If You Build It They Will Come

Front lawn
It’s mostly done! Photos by Northern Woodlands staff.

Our native plant pollinator garden has been fully planted and mulched. Just a few tasks remain for the season, including addressing some storm water drainage issues. Many hands have come together to build our garden of dreams, and we are so delighted. We welcome you to come take a walk!

Our thanks to the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation, The Lyme Foundation, and the many generous neighbors who are making this project possible. Visit our Pollinator Garden Campaign to get involved.

If You Build It Gallery

Side path Photo: Nancy Farwell
Finishing the last path that leads to the driveway. | Photo: Nancy Farwell
Path work Photo: Nancy Farwell
The final layer is put down. So close! | Photo: Nancy Farwell
Driveway Photo: Nancy Farwell
Pathways are complete. Now to get planting again... | Photo: Nancy Farwell
Percy in the shade Photo: Nancy Farwell
Working in the garden is always better with a friend. Percy keeps cool in the shade. | Photo: Nancy Farwell
Pollinator garden Photo: Nancy Farwell
These logs will provide shelter, nesting areas, and food for some types of pollinators. We placed two groupings of decaying logs - the other is supporting some cool fungi. | Photo: Nancy Farwell
Planting continues Photo: Nancy Farwell
The heat didn’t stop us! We kept planting and mulching, planting and mulching... | Photo: Nancy Farwell
Helpful neighbors Photo: Rebecca Perkins Hanissian and Nancy Farwell
Many hands...we enlisted some young helpers who were very enthusiastic! | Photo: Rebecca Perkins Hanissian and Nancy Farwell
Mulch and planting Photo: Emily S. Rowe
This front bed was planted on the 4th of July and has held up well through heat and downpours. Native plants are tough and can handle a range of weather. | Photo: Emily S. Rowe
Views Photo: Emily S. Rowe
The garden looks great from so many angles! We are so pleased with how it’s coming along. | Photo: Emily S. Rowe
Smothering weeds Photo: Emily S. Rowe
The apple tree bed finally gets prepared for planting. Here we are smothering the sod left behind as we didn’t want to disturb the roots. We laid cardboard and some layers of newspaper and put a light layer of topsoil over it. We’ll plant this area later or even in the spring. | Photo: Emily S. Rowe
Newspapers Photo: Emily S. Rowe
We left the cardboard and newspaper peeking out from the edges. It will keep weeds at bay and eventually break down. So many crab-apples this year! | Photo: Emily S. Rowe
Smothering working Photo: Emily S. Rowe
The rest of the area under the apple tree is planted. Just need some wood chips! | Photo: Emily S. Rowe
Water flow Photo: Emily S. Rowe
We learned a lot about water flow and runoff. The heavy rains this summer have challenged us and we are going to have to continue to figure out how to manage the water coming across this pathway. | Photo: Emily S. Rowe
Heavy rain flow Photo: Emily S. Rowe
The rain water flows from the street and across the pathway and into the garden beds. Once the roots and plants are more established, that won’t be as much of a problem. What looks level and flat is never level and flat. | Photo: Emily S. Rowe
Pollinators Photo: Jack Saul
So many pollinators are visiting the garden! This is why we wanted to do this. We hope you’ll stop by and enjoy the beauty of this space and the variety of life it is already supporting. | Photo: Jack Saul

Discussion *

Aug 27, 2024

It’s going to be so beautiful in the spring!

Marghi Bean

Leave a reply

To ensure a respectful dialogue, please refrain from posting content that is unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, libelous, obscene, or inflammatory. Northern Woodlands assumes no responsibility or liability arising from forum postings and reserves the right to edit all postings. Thanks for joining the discussion.