On March 18th, AYLUS Great Neck Branch volunteered at Jones Beach Energy and Nature Center, a new facility that is located at what had been a very busy bathing beach at West End 2 at Jones Beach State Park. This area became less desirable as a bathing beach as natural accretion of sand widened the beach to such an extent that getting to the shore from the parking lot became difficult. The area was then repurposed to create a pollinator garden, which was built on about 10 acres of parking lot that was removed.
The pollinator garden that we worked in is designed to benefit pollinators such as bees and butterflies. It covers all steps of their life cycle and also produces seeds for birds and other wildlife. Along with new seeds, the sunlight reaches down to the roots to help perennial wildflower and grasses to grow. The white pipes shown in the pictures are the irrigation pipes, which were installed to firmly establish the pollinator garden.
During our volunteer work, we focused on preparing the garden for new growth in the spring by cutting all dead plant material. This allowed sunlight to reach down to the roots and help seeds grow. We carefully moved the dead plants and added them to the compost pile, ensuring that nothing was wasted. The dead stalks we removed included Broomsedge Bluestem, Seaside Goldenrod, Little Bluestem, and Purple Coneflower. One important aspect of maintaining a natural garden is that it does not cut itself. Therefore, it was our responsibility to ensure that the new plants had a good start by removing the dead material from the previous season.
In conclusion, volunteering at Jones Beach allowed us to contribute to the conservation of the pollinator garden and provided us with the opportunity to learn about the importance of maintaining a natural garden. The efforts put forth by the AYLUS Great Neck Branch and other volunteers help to create a healthy environment for wildlife.
Members Participated (2.5h): I-Han Liao, Fanxi Xia, Lucas Liao, Zoe Xia, Kalli Zhu