Written By: Sara Kong
The AYLUS Dix Hills Branch works with the Saturday Stewards and JBENC Pollinator Garden to allow newly planted species thrive in their environment on April 8, 2023. Decades ago, on the West Point, Jones Beach was very popular, allowing over thousands of people to relax or sunbathe. Over the course of many decades later, however, the population of beachgoers aged and many were aware of the consequences of too much UV light from the sun, resulting in sunburn or potentially skin cancer. Additionally, due to the long traveling distance from the parking lot to the beach itself, people struggled physically with having to carry heaps of items such as coolers and large chairs. As a result, the beach declined in popularity, resulting in the creation of the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center (JBENC).
The JBENC includes a pollinator garden, which is crucial to the well-being of the ecosystem. Pollinators such as moths and bats are attracted to plants, alongside typical bee or butterfly pollinators. Alongside incorporating the whole life cycle, during the winter and spring, having a large diversity of pollinators contributes to the overall success and how good a pollinator garden is. However, there are numerous plants such as dead stalks and grass from previous seasons which makes it hard for the pollinators to reach plants. Due to how new the garden is, volunteers provide more care to the garden by cutting these stalks and grass so sunlight and air can reach them more efficiently to help them get a vigorous start to the new plant season. These actions are continued until the garden is firmly established, allowing the growing season for plants to improve.
Plants removed included grass and flower stalks, which were protruding or had flowers in the stem embedded. Despite this, we weren’t supposed to remove any native woody stamp plants, including the native rose and aromatic bayberry (not 100% deemed as flowers), as it was introduced as a native species and showcased what people would typically find. Plants such as goldenrod, were also avoided as they aid in the attraction of butterflies, a well known pollinator. Volunteers got rid of the grass and flower stalks by cutting them down using various tools such as large shears or knives. Due to how large of an area the grass spanned, we accumulated a large amount of grass that had to be transported to a large tarp and was raked to allow greenery to peek through. All the removed grass and flower stalks would then be reused by being thrown into compost piles to prevent waste.
Today was an extremely productive day, as members were able to cut grass spanning up to a large distance. AYLUS Dix Hills efforts at JBENC allow the new plants of the refurbished 10 acres plot to receive nutrients and thrive, as well as support conservation efforts associated with the environment. We hope to continue these efforts in the near future with more collaborations for the environment.
Volunteers: Sara Kong (3 hours), Ru Xue Jiang (2 hours and 30 minutes), Jason Cheng (2 hours and 30 minutes), Ivan Wu (2 hours and 30 minutes), Gurvani Singh (2 hours and 30 minutes), Kevin Lyu (2 hours and 30 minutes), Ming Chen (2 hours and 30 minutes).
