The pollinator garden (or meadow) at the Westmoreland Conservation District was planted in the fall of 2019 on a nearly one-half acre site next to the district’s office on Donohoe Road and at the entrance of the Ann Rudd Saxman Nature Park.
The site was originally covered with volunteer shrubs and weeds, including many non-native species. To get the site ready for planting, we used the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service’s methodology for creating a pollinator meadow, which included repeated mowing and the application of a non-persistent herbicide during the spring and summer months.
District staff planted a conservation native plant seed mix purchased from Ernst Conservation Seeds along with a grass cover crop that protected the wildflower seedlings from aggressive weeds.
Unfortunately, the covid lockdown in early 2020 prevented us from having the meadow mowed, and the grass cover crop took over. Since then, the meadow was mowed in early 2021 and 2022, allowing the native wildflowers to become established and thrive. The meadow is frequented by many pollinators and occasionally deer, which bed down in the meadow at night.
The project was funded by the PA DEP’s 2019 Environmental Education Grants Program.
