Before we can have self-guided tours in the teaching garden, there had to be a way to distribute the tour handouts that I’ll be creating. Roger and I addressed this by putting more acrylic handout boxes throughout the garden.
First, we had to create places to mount these boxes. Using scraps of wooden posts and hemlock boards donated from Brett Chedzoy, CCE Schuyler’s forestry educator, we created 3 more stands for handout boxes. Then, Roger and I set the stands into the ground and attached the acrylic boxes.
I also met with Debbie Ball, one of the volunteers for the teaching garden this week. Debbie has taken an area of the garden that used to be overrun with lemon balm and oregano and turned it into a pollinator garden. As she described each of the species she planted, was struck me was the variety of plantings. By incorporating a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and blooming dates, Debbie’s garden attracts all sorts of pollinators — from domestic honeybees to dozens of wild solitary bees to butterflies and moths. So, when a garden includes more variety, it can support a greater variety of insects and animals.
