A Native Plant Garden at Loveland Primary School

Creating an Oasis for Local Biodiversity

Loveland Learning Garden, local Girl Scout Troop 4025, and Love Our Land are partnering to convert an area with nonnative plants at Loveland Primary School to a native garden that will support native pollinators and other biodiversity. The native garden will host a diverse assemblage of native wildflowers and grasses that serve as food sources, nest sites, and cover for a wide variety of local wildlife, including imperiled species like the American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) and monarch (Danaus plexippus). The area is very visible to students, faculty, administrative staff, and parents who enter the school, which will help raise awareness about the importance of landscaping with native vegetation. An interpretive sign providing information about the intention of the space and how it will improve the health of the local environment will be placed in the native garden to educate students and passersby. The native garden plans to be used by Loveland Learning Garden and teachers to teach students about how native plants provide substantially more benefits to biodiversity than their nonnative counterparts. Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Love Our Land, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us all.

Broken Ecosystems

Communities around the globe have documented significant losses of wildlife, plants, and other biodiversity--the abundance and diversity of life--as a result of shrinking habitat, the spread of nonnative invasive species, climate change, and a growing disconnect between people and nature. Beyond protecting and enhancing the existing habitat, it is critical that greater efforts be made to create and restore healthy habitats by planting native vegetation that can fuel food webs and regenerate biodiversity in our communities. Our native wildlife evolved alongside native plants to be able to use and consume them. Without healthy native plant communities, insect herbivores, such as caterpillars, do not have access to their necessary food sources, meaning birds and other wildlife that depend on insect herbivores as prey also do not have access to food. In other words, food webs break down and ecosystems unravel. This is exactly why it is crucial we plant native vegetation in our own yards, neighborhoods, and schools.

How Can You Help

A contribution to this project will help pay for the native plants (locally sourced and untreated with pesticides), interpretive signs, and other materials (e.g., native bee houses) needed to bring this native garden to life. Your contribution can also help leverage support from others that will choose to donate because of the growing interest in the project. Any amount you can give is greatly appreciated and will go towards the installation of this biologically rich native garden.