Springfield Twp.: Maybe you’ve heard about the dwindling honeybee population or wondered where the monarch butterflies have gone.
They’re two of the most visible examples of the plight of our pollinators, creatures vital to about a third of our food production.
Lots of people are worried, and a group of folks here is doing something about it.
That group has created a pollinator garden that will not only lure and support the birds, bugs and other creatures that spread pollen, but will also serve as a learning laboratory to teach others about the importance of pollinators and how we can encourage and protect them.
The garden was installed this summer next to Schrop Intermediate School on Pickle Road, adjacent to the Springfield Community Garden.
Friday it will open officially with a celebration starting at 1 p.m. Students from Schrop and SCOPE Academy just down the road will release butterflies, including some monarchs that will be tagged so their migration to Mexico can be monitored online.
For a garden with such a serious purpose, it’s a pleasant little patch. An arbor invites visitors in to relax on a bench or stroll a crushed limestone path bordered by themed beds of herbs, flowers and other native plants.
The garden is an outgrowth of a demonstration garden installed last year in Springfield Lake Park, which shows people ways to grow food without a lot of expense or land. Teenager Ryan Kirby helped build that demonstration garden for his brother Ricky’s Eagle Scout project, and the experience left him eager to take on a similar project in his own pursuit of the Eagle rank.
He approached garden organizers Pat Rossi and Jerry Salisbury, and the husband-and-wife team of master gardener volunteers came up with the idea of the pollinator garden. The project was awarded a $1,000 grant from the Summit County Master Gardeners and obtained additional donations, including $500 from the South Akron Board of Trade and plant donations from Canton Road and Kern’s garden centers, Ohio State University, the master gardeners and a few individuals.
The garden’s development and construction was a community effort, Rossi said. Ryan took a lead role, with plenty of help from his brother, his parents, Vicki and Ron Kirby, and his fellow members of Boy Scout Troop 282. Interior designer Marcia Wolff helped design the garden, with assistance from a few master gardener volunteers. The Springfield Township Parks Department installed the walkways and fence. Girl Scout Troop 91410 crafted stepping stones to decorate the garden, and woodworker Wayne Carmany donated bird and bee houses.
The garden is free of the pesticides that can discourage or harm pollinators, “and that means more work,” said Rossi, who’s been struggling to keep up with the weeds. Once the plants grow larger, however, they should crowd out some of those pesky invaders.
The plan is to make the garden a center of learning, she said. Denise Ellsworth, who directs the honeybee and native pollinator education program for Ohio State and was an early supporter of the garden, will present a training session in October for teachers and master gardeners so they in turn can educate others about pollinators.
Rossi expects the garden will see plenty of visits from schoolchildren and will play host to educational programs for adults.
It’s important work. Pollinators of all kinds are essential to the production of many of our foods, yet around the globe they’re struggling to survive as their habitats shrinks, pesticides are misused, diseases and parasites threaten their health and invasive species outmuscle the native plants and animals on which they depend.
Here in the United States, more than half our managed honeybee colonies have been lost over the past 10 years, according to the nonprofit Pollinator Partnership. This past winter, the area of Mexico occupied by overwintering monarch butterflies dropped to an all-time low, an indication that the butterflies’ numbers have fallen off drastically.
And the list goes on.
The Springfield garden alone won’t solve the problem, but maybe it will open some eyes and encourage others to follow suit.
If we all rethink how we plant and manage our yards, we just might turn the fate of the pollinators around.
And that’s good for all of us.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MBBreckABJ, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckABJ and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.