Pollinator Pathway
Amesbury
Thank you for your interest in Amesbury Eco Gardeners! We are residents of Amesbury, MA dedicated to promoting the benefits and joy of gardening with native plants. Gardening with native plants is critically important, and we provide information, encouragement and support to our community so that we can expand pollinator habitat throughout greater Amesbury.
Each one of us can make a difference!
Planting an ecological garden is something that each one of us can do to help the world around us. Adding just a few native plants to your garden can cost very little money, will have an (almost) immediate and positive impact on the local environment, and will just as quickly bring you beauty and joy as your garden comes alive with birds, butterflies and other insects. Explore the menu at the top of this page to learn more about why gardening with native plants is so important.
What you can do:
Add Native Plants. Start by adding just a few native plants to your garden, porch or patio. There is always a native plant that will suit your particular situation: from flowers in a window box or container, to plants, shrubs, or trees in a front or backyard.
Avoid Chemicals. Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers: these kill our pollinators and damage our soils.
Rethink the Lawn. Most of our lawns are bigger than they need to be, and provide no food or shelter for our pollinators. Think about portions of your lawn that could be native plants or groundcover, instead.
Leave some Leaves. Ease up on the Fall clean up-some of our most beautiful pollinators shelter in the leaves over the winter. Don’t rush into the Spring clean up-pollinators take their time waking up.
Manage the Invasives. Invasives are aggressive, non-native plants that can take over entire landscapes. Learn how to identify and manage them.
Turn Off Outdoor Lights. Lights left on after dark are highly detrimental to pollinators. Use motion detection timers to limit lighting to times when it is necessary.
Interested in learning more? Unsure how to get started?
We welcome everyone to learn about ecological gardening with us. Please reach out to us at amesburyecogard@yahoo.com with questions or if you would like to be on our mailing list.
Follow us on Instagram @amesburyecogardeners
The Pollinator Playground Garden
140 Friend St, Amesbury, MA 01913
The Pollinator Playground is located at the Friend Street entrance to the playground area at Amesbury’s Town Park, and was planted by members of Amesbury Eco Gardeners in June, 2025. We are excited to watch it grow!
The plants in the Pollinator Playground are native to our area, are tolerant of sunny, dry conditions, support a range of insects, and flower at different times.
For more information about these native plants and the insects they support, go to https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/Plant-Search, and: https://nativeplantfinder.nwf.org
Pollinator Playground Plants:
1. Anise Hyssop (Agustache Foeniculum)
2. Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
3. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
4. Common Yarrow (Achilea millefolium)
5. False Blue Indigo (Baptisia australis)
6. False Ox Eye (Heliopsis helianthoides)
7. Fireworks Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa Fireworks)
8. Grey Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
9. Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
10. New England Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
11. Little Blue Stem Grass (Schizachyrium scoparium)
12. Narrow Leaf Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum tenifolium)
13. Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
14. Pussytoes (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
15. Shrubby St John’s Wort (Hypericum prolificum)
16. Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum leave)
17. Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginina)
The Pollinator Playground Garden Donors
Many thanks to all of our Donors who made the Pollinator Playground possible!
Amesbury Industrial Supply, Amesbury, MA
Denson Natives, West Newbury, MA
Doug’s Tree Service, Seabrook, NH
Farm and Sea, Amesbury, MA
Martignetti Enterprises, Amesbury, MA
Molly Janicki Horticultural Services, Newbury, MA
Oakhaven Sanctuary, North Reading, MA
The Monarch Gardener, Topsfield, MA
Other helpful resources:
Grow Native Massachusetts. A great organization with a great website. Check out their Resources page. www.grownativemass.org
Wild Seed Project. Based in Maine, especially good for learning about planting from seed. www.wildseedproject.net
Home Grown National Park. A national project led by Doug Tallamy. www.homegrownnationalpark.org
Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy. If you are going to read only one book, this should be it. https://homegrownnationalpark.org/doug-tallamy/
West Newbury Wild and Native. An amazing local resource. www.wnwildnative.org
Amesbury Eco Gardeners
Creating Habitat One Plant at a Time
@amesburyecogardeners