SPRING 2019
Pollinator Garden
Kutztown Thriving is a sub-committee of Kutztown Community Partnership that aims to sustain a healthy community through positive solutions and holistic endeavors.
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Facebook: @thrivingtown
The pollinator garden at the welcome sign at Constitution and Greenwich Streets was planted by and is maintained by Kutztown Thriving volunteers to beautify the area; benefit birds and insects by providing habitat and food; and to educate Kutztown residents about native plant and pollinator gardening.
Planted specifically for pollinators, such as native bees and butterflies, this garden and our maintenance practices, which include weeding, mulching certain areas, and timing clean up to best benefit the insects and animals that use the plants, have been aimed at keeping the pollinators safe and healthy.
We encourage pollinators and other insects to make this garden their home, while providing food and shelter for birds, and therefore we do not clean up in the fall. Leaving the stems standing is an intentional effort to leave the overwintering beneficial insects, such as native bees, in place as this is their best chance for winter survival. When they emerge in early spring, we remove the standing stems which also hold plant seeds that are food for birds during the winter.
We planted the garden in a prairie style which encourages the plants to reseed and fill in all ground area as a weed prevention technique. We do volunteer our time to weed the garden several times each spring and summer, and while it might look a bit messy sometimes, that is what nature intended.
This garden, and two others in Kutztown, are also home to native bee houses. Eagle Scout Griffin Price built and placed them after researching native bees. His efforts, combined with ours, are a boon to local native bees.
If you would like to keep up with the group or get involved, visit us on Facebook!
