A Pollinator Garden on the OCA

Two Hastings-on-Hudson students received a Bloomberg Philanthropies Youth Climate Action Fund micro-grant from the village of Hastings and created a pollinator garden in support of the monarch butterfly population. Congratulations to Marcello Gonzalez & Ryan DeMarchis-Bilman for their initiative and hard work (with the support of some parents and neighbors). You can see their efforts on the OCA, just east of Zinsser Park, between Minturn and Edgar’s Lane.

In their words: “We chose this project because we wanted to play a role in the recovery of the monarch butterfly population by increasing their habitat. We replaced invasive species on the garden site with native plants, like milkweed, that their caterpillars need to eat. We picked the Old Croton Aqueduct above the Zinsser fields for our garden site because it is very accessible and visible to passersby on the aqueduct and we wanted to share the garden with the community. That particular spot had desirable features of direct sunlight and good drainage, which milkweed needs to thrive. Our garden has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation and the North American Butterfly Association for meeting the needs of pollinators throughout all stages of their life cycles.”

If you are interested in creating your own pollinator garden, reach out to the Hastings Pollinator Pathway folks at hastingspollinatorpathway@gmail.com. If you’d like permission to create a garden on the OCA, you can find information here; you will need the permission of an adjacent property-owner.

The garden BEFORE

The garden AFTER

The signage.