This week I had the pleasure of visiting two of our habitat restoration projects to see how the plants were holding up. The goal in these project was to restore native plants to the areas - not so much as a landscaping project, but to bring back the wildflowers and plants that would normally grow in the area. We didn’t need to remove many non-native invasives, but just replaced the existing grass with native plants. I am pleased to say that both projects are doing well; it’s hard to even imagine what they looked like before. And there were butterflies and bees!

Westbrook Elementary School Meadow

The Westbrook Habitat Restoration Project was the brainchild of Lynnwood Andrews. In 2010, after getting permission from the Elementary School and Montgomery Parks, she worked with the community to free the trees along the banks of the Little Falls Branch from vines and replace about a 1/4 acre of lawn with native flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees. Today, the area is alive with birds, bees and butterflies. See below for before and after pictures. Learn more about the project HERE.

After - July 2022

Top row below: Redbud Tree, Brown-eyed Susan, Mountain Mint
Bottom row below: Sea Oats, Elderberry, Red Twig Dogwoods

Before - September 2010

Building the Meadow. After using cardboard to kill the grass, the meadow was planted with over 1,000 landscaping plugs as well as with a few oak saplings that were grown from acorns collected by Westbrook students.

sumner village stormwater management project

The Sumner Village project was part hardscape to manage the stormwater running down the hill and part conservation landscaping to restore natives to the area to further stem the flow of the water. The deep roots of native plants help the water soak into the ground. When we started the project, the area was a sea of mud from water rushing down the hill. There were few native plants and just one tree suffering from the endless flooding. Today the area has over a dozen species of native plants including hibiscus, sneeze weed, cinnamon fern, button bush, red twig dogwood, elderberry, foam flowers and Joe Pye weed and the tree has recovered and is thriving. See below for before and after pictures. Learn more about the project HERE.