FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 28th, 2024
MEDIA CONTACTS: Umberto Mignardi, Kevin Higgins, Michael Anderson (516) 869-7794
North Hempstead Helps Residents Create Pollinator Habitat
North Hempstead, NY – Last year, the Town of North Hempstead ran two programs to assist residents in installing native pollinator habitats in their landscapes. The Town’s Native Plant Trial Garden and the Native Plant Residential Rebate Program provided resources, funding and education on native plants. These plants provide food, shelter and nesting resources for a variety of wildlife species, including pollinators and other beneficial insects, birds and small mammals. The plants are especially important for the declining migratory monarch butterfly.
With funding from the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Native Plant Rebate Program succeeded in creating almost 70 new native plant gardens throughout the Town over the past three years. Not only do these gardens provide habitat for wildlife, but they also look beautiful, with photos of the many residential gardens created through this program showcased on a new Town webpage at northhempsteadny.gov/rebategardens. The page shows the transformation of these sites before and after planting to give other residents inspiration for putting in native plants to see what their own gardens could look like.
The Town’s Native Plant Trial Garden was planted in Fall 2022 within Clark Botanic Gardens’ community garden area. It contains uncommon native plant species that provide resources for pollinators and other wildlife species. The plants are assessed for 2-3 years for floral display, size and form, pest and disease resistance, and pollinator visitation - this will determine where they can best be planted on Town properties, and which plants to recommend to community members. After one year of surveillance, preliminary results show that plants like common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), hoary mountain mint (Pycnanthemum incanum), narrow leaf evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and Eastern beebalm (Monarda bradburiana) would all make great choices for a small residential garden, as they remained upright and neat while attracting many pollinators (see photos). The first three plants also had very long bloom times, at 2-4 months. Stay tuned for more results as monitoring gets back underway this spring.
Winter is the perfect time to start planning a new native plant garden. For inspiration, please visit northhempsteadny.gov/np to view gardens created by residents through the Town’s Native Plant Rebate Program and resources to learn more about native plants including those in the Town’s native plant trial garden.
Caption: Common boneset with visiting bumble bee.
Caption: Hoary mountain mint.
Caption: Narrow leaf evening primrose.
Caption: Eastern beebalm.