CHARM Pollinator Garden

Previously, when sitting in line to drop off your recycling at the recycling facility, CHARM - the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, the only thing to look at was a weedy gravel hill. In the spirt of reduce, reuse, recycle, we created a design to repurpose this area for a native pollinator meadow.

We first began by constructing a fifty foot retaining wall to create structure and to support the addition of topsoil, backfilled with soil, and then planted the area with hundreds of native grasses, flowering perennials, shrubs, and trees - all selected to support our native birds, bees, and butterflies. After planting, we added six inches of mulch to suppress weeds, reducing the amount of irrigation needed, and to increase the soil organic matter as it decomposes over time.

Not only does the pollinator garden provide year round beauty for all visitors to enjoy, it is also buzzing with life, sequestering carbon dioxide, and supporting CHARM’s mission of sustainability and environmental protection.