[Pollinator] NPW - Pollinator Garden aims to spread more than pollen

[ladadams at aol.com]

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

Pollinator Garden aims to spread more than pollen

published on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:14 PM MDT



By MIKE GERRITY Chronicle Staff Writer

The new patch of fresh dirt in Langohr Park is being pushed to raise 
awareness to a kind of sustainability that advocates say often goes 
overlooked: pollination.


Bridget Gleason, director of development for the national Pollinator 
Partnership, said that Bozeman’s new educational pollinator garden — 
installed at Langohr Park just this week — is the first such project 
the group has attempted in the country. It also reflects on the city’s 
values in regards to sustainability, she said.

“Bozeman has taken it upon itself to make it a local issue,” Gleason 
said.

The partnership has been working in conjunction with the USDA Natural 
Resources Conservation Service and the Gallatin Valley Land Trust to 
create a patch of land that can demonstrate how to grow plants that are 
pollinator friendly.

David Kascht of NRCS estimated that the project took about $10,000 of 
funding from NRCS and other affiliates.

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The Pollinator Partnership’s Web site claims that at least 80 percent 
of the world’s crop plant species require pollination. If a serious 
decline in pollinators continue, Gleason claims, it could have a 
significant impact on food crops worldwide.

“Pollinators are respo
nsible for one out of every three bites of food 
we take,” she said.

The patch of land is intended as a showcase of what a pollinator 
habitat might look like and will feature an informational kiosk that 
will teach people how to make their gardens pollinator friendly.

“It’s primarily choosing the right plants,” Gleason said.

Ted Lange, community trails planner with GVLT, said that although the 
garden is being fed off of an irrigation system already available to 
the community garden in Langohr Park, using native species can reduce 
the need for irrigation.

“They can handle the wet springs and the dry, hot summers,” Lange said.

Lange suggested that GVLT might at some point be selling memorial 
benches around Langohr Park to help finance future upkeep of the garden 
and the rest of the park.

Mike Gerrity can be reached at mgerrity at dailychronicle.com.