Greenwich Pollinator Pathway
Tour of Pollinator Friendly Places in Greenwich
In collaboration with the Town Greenwich Conservation Department and in partnership with the Greenwich Land Trust, Greenwich Pollinator Pathway invites you to a tour of a few of our pollinator friendly places in town. This tour is designed to provide a diversity of settings where pollinator habitat is showcased.
Using any of the popular apps for the cellphone, like iNaturalist or PictureThis plants can be easily identified, allowing visitors to learn about the right plants for the right site.
Thank you for taking the tour, which has been organized to make it easy to follow. We hope this experience will deepen your love of pollinators and inspire you to restore, foster and grow your own pollinator friendly places.
1. Greenwich Botanical Center
130 Bible Street, Cos Cob
Owned/Designed: Owned by the Town of Greenwich and operated in collaboration with the Greenwich Botanical Center.
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Environmental setting: The pollinator garden is located at the rear of the Center along the asphalt pedestrian pathway next to the Monoliths exhibit. This garden located at the edge of the woodland is at the juncture of several different habitats including meadow, wetland, pond edge, shade, partial shade, and full sun. Soils here vary from well-drained and gently sloping to wet.
Highlights: The gardens, spruced up with new plants each year, invite the visitor into the landscape with the colors and textures of native perennial pollinator beds. Strategically placed sculptures and benches offer an invitation to relax and reflect. Planted beds, conifers, a pond and mature deciduous trees divide the space into separate areas bringing an element of surprise and discovery to the viewing experience. Bees from the Botanical Center's beehives and many other pollinators visit this area, hovering over flowers and enlivening the scene.
2. Pomerance Park
101 Orchard St, Cos Cob
Owned/designed: Town of Greenwich
Environmental settings: This 100-acre park is a woodland jewel situated within the densely developed heart of Cos Cob. The woodland offers a variety of wildlife habitats, numerous ledge outcrops, a 6-acre pond, steep slopes, mature trees, streams and wetlands.
Highlights: Visitors are invited to stroll through the 10-acre meadow located on the east side of the bridge. Take the pathway to the right before ascending the asphalt walkway up the hill. The meadow is a diverse collection of pollinator friendly shrubs, grasses and herbaceous ground covers that create a dramatic sense of place. The meadow is surrounded by evergreen and deciduous trees and includes wetland areas — all providing a rich habitat for pollinators, birds and other wildlife.
3. Cos Cob Library – Strickland Brook Park
5 Sinawoy Road in Cos Cob
Owned/designed: Owned by the Town of Greenwich, established by the Westchester Fairfield Horticultural Society in 2000. This area was recently revitalized by the Greenwich Pollinator Pathway group with native shrubs, trees and perennials. The site is in its third season of restoration as the largely ornamental asiatic species were removed, along with extensive invasive species. A sheet mulch was installed last year to suppressed an entrenched mugwort infestation.
Environmental setting: The restoration along Strickland Brooks has afforded the unique opportunity to restore riparian habitat along an estuarine stream. Tidal flows from the Mill Pond across Route 1 deposit salts and occasionally fully flood the park. Installed plantings and naturally occurring native species along the banks consist of drought tolerant and low nutrient tolerant vegetation, as well as young trees, water loving shrubs and herbaceous species typical to this environment.
Highlights: The stream buffer improved with new perennials offers a dense diversity of habitat dominated by native species. The corridor is a mix of different strata aligned parallel with the channel. The lower portion of the sloping banks supports a self-propagated variety of tidal vegetation, while the upper portion of the slope is planted with predominantly native shrubs and perennials. Both groups intertwine along the boundaries in harmonious growth. ​
4. Mural Garden
East Putnam Avenue and Overlook Drive
Owned/designed: Located on the right of way of the State Highway the area is maintained by CT DOT. The garden was designed and installed by Greenwich Pollinator Pathway to complement the Pollinator Pathway Mural and bus shelter exhibit.
5. Town Hall Annex Apartments
27 Havemeyer Place in Greenwich
Owned/designed: Owned by Greenwich Housing Authority, designed by Mark Greenwald and Carrie Maher Greenwald (Maher & Greenwald Fine Gardens, landscape architects).
Environmental setting: Flamboyantly planted sloping area along urban pedestrian walkway within a densely developed area of downtown Greenwich. Soils here are man-made and require irrigation during the summer months.
Highlights: Punched with color and texture, the design is composed of shrubs and perennials growing in harmony to please pollinators and pedestrians.
6. Greenwich Close Apartments
20 Brookside Drive at entrance to Field Point Road
Owned/designed: Owned by the Greenwich Housing Authority and designed by Mark Greenwald and Carrie Maher Greenwald, (Maher & Greenwald Fine Gardens, landscape architects.)
Environmental setting: Front yard located in a densely developed area of downtown.
Highlights: It is hard to believe that this garden fixed between a tall apartment building and a busy street creates such an oasis buzzing with pollinators. Beautifully crafted design incorporates native trees, shrubs and perennials. This eye-catching display is a living proof that any unpaved area can be turned into productive habitat, full of life and pleasing to both wildlife and people alike.
7. Greenwich Land Trust
370 Round Hill Rd, Greenwich
Owned/designed: Owned and restored by Greenwich Land Trust
Environmental setting: Meadows featuring diverse native plant communities transitioning into woodland.
Highlights: Several different meadow settings are supported on this property: understory of a small, forested area; open field; partially shaded areas; and wetlands. Meadows can be difficult to establish, but once successful they require very little maintenance and are ecologically superior to the high-maintenance and resource requirements of lawn-scapes. This ecologically diverse system supports a wide variety of pollinators and other wildlife species. Walking through the mown pathways allows a full immersion into tall greenery, shifting fragrances and the sounds and movements of wildlife interactions.
Mural Garden Installation
Over 250 native shrubs, herbaceous plants, bulbs and vines were planted in a 300 square foot garden that was cleared of invasive ivy, Euonymus (Burning Bush) and grass. Plants were chosen that could withstand the dry conditions near the sidewalk and the shade of a north-facing exposure.
Greenwich Cub Scouts' Success
in the Hotel Business
October 2021 - Cub Scout Pack 20 partnered with Greenwich Pollinator Pathway to build a new luxury hotel for a special V.I.P. clientele. The hotel was erected at the North Street pollinator garden adjacent to the North Street School and included luxury suites for some of our most hardworking local residents – bees, spiders and beneficial insects.
Read more: https://bit.ly/3DzoxTN
Finishing Touches are Placed on Post Road Mural
Muralist Nelson Rivas, who goes by "Cekis" completed the mural on November 29, 2021
The artist, center, with his assistant Yedi on the right and documentary filmmaker, Jhonny Parks on left.
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The mural signature at right signals that the mural is complete.
Greenwich Proclaimed Pollinator Friendly Community
April 2021 - The Conservation Commission, which oversees the Pollinator Pathway program was pleased to announce that the Board of Selectman adopted a resolution proclaiming Greenwich a Pollinator Friendly Community.
The endorsement coincided with the Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd.
The completed mural will be accompanied by a pollinator garden and an installation in the glass and steel-framed bus shelter, which will hold panels hung to educate passersby about pollinators, native plants and the Pollinator Pathway mission. Along with a short documentary film of the project these elements comprise the entire Mural Project as a celebration of pollinators and the Town's commitment to their welfare targeted for Earth Day 2022.
Who Are We?
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Greenwich Pollinator Pathway in partnership with the Greenwich Conservation Commission, collaborates with
Greenwich Parks and Recreation,
CT Audubon, Greenwich Land Trust, Green Fingers, Green Schools, Audubon Greenwich, Greenwich Botanical Center, Greenwich Girl Scouts, Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Greenwich Department of Public Works, Sam Bridge Nursery, North Street School, Old Greenwich Garden Club, Pollinator Potluck, Riverside Garden Club, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Troy Nursery, Maher and Greenwald Fine Gardens and numerous volunteers.
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Want more information?
Email: amoch@greenwichct.org or call (203) 622-6461
Goals, Projects & Maps
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Our goal is to create a corridor of contiguous pollinator-friendly properties, which connect existing open spaces, parks, stream corridors, forests, private gardens and natural fields.
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Basic Criteria for Creation of a Pollinator Pathway:
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Connects large natural areas.
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Addresses ecological and physical needs of the site.
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Ensures proper plant density to suppress invasive species growth.
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Uses predominantly native, hardy/drought-tolerant plants that meet pollinator requirements.
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Maintains the areas pesticide/herbicide-free and uses predominantly organic soil amendments.
​To have your garden certified and placed on the map please contact us @ amock@greenwichct.org
Tips to Pollinize
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Reduce or eliminate turf
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Avoid landscape chemicals
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Focus on diversity of plantings
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Remove invasives by pulling or crowding out with natives
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Seek out ecotype seeds/plants
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Wait to trim perennials until spring
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Allow insects to forage
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Enjoy the riot
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Pollinator Pairs
The Spring Beauty Mining Bee (Adrena erigeniae) gathers pollen and nectar from one plant, Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica or carolinlana.) These ground-nesting and solitary bees excavate chambers often below leaf litter and lay one egg on a cake of pollen sequentially. When done the female seals herself up with her eggs while they pupate through the summer. The adult bees sequester in their chamber until the following spring when the Spring Beauties once again emerge.
PESTICIDES:
Know the Risk
Pesticides are commonly found in lawn and garden products and are frequently used by lawn-care companies.
Pesticides can be dangerous to human health, especially children, the elderly and the immuno-compromised. Pesticide exposure elevates the risk of birth defects, Parkinson’s and cancer.
Pets can absorb pesticides through their paws and suffer many of the same health effects as humans.
Pesticides leach into the soil and can
contaminate groundwater and destroy soil organisms.
Pesticides can devastate pollinators (bees, butterflies and birds.) Pollinators pollinate 90% of our flowering plants including the fruit, vegetables and nuts we eat.
Learn how chemical pesticides are being used on your property and curb their use.
Pledge to make our comunity pesticide-free for the health of people, pets and pollinators.