Going Native
SLIPPERY ROCK — It's just in the beginning stages, but soon a portion of Slippery Rock University's campus will be a little slice of heaven for hummingbirds and butterflies.
A 30-by-70-foot section of the lawn in front of the Leadership Development Center at 302 North Road has been planted in 16 types of native Pennsylvania perennial plants and three types of shrubs favored and savored by butterflies and hummingbirds.
The garden was planted through the efforts of Erin Strain, director of SRU leadership development, and Brian Ringler, a member of the university grounds and services crew.
The project, formally known as the Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden, sprouted two years ago.
“Well, Erin and I were both thinking about getting a Greenfund grant to plant wildflowers, and we thought 'Why don't we do native plants?' We are losing native species,” said Ringler.
SRU's Greenfund provides money to environmentally friendly programs on campus.
“What happened was the front of the building was just a grass lot with two small trees,” said Strain, who is in charge of professional development for the faculty and staff and running leadership labs for students.
“Brian is in charge of flowers and landscaping. We had talked. I would really like to be able to put our heads together and see what we could do with the front,” Strain said.
“Brian had the initial idea to use native plants. I did the research and took a class at Phipps Conservatory on land design,” Strain said. “Phipps gave me a lot of great resources. iConserve PA is a great website.”
The website was created by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said the department's press officer Terry Brady.
The pair said using plants native to Pennsylvania was important because, according to the DCNR, by 2000, five percent of Pennsylvania's native plant species had been eliminated and another 25 percent were in danger of extinction.
Strain said they chose a design by iConserve that used native perennials and shrubs to create a shelter for both hummingbirds and butterflies.
Brady said the garden designs were created by department botantists and biologists.Strain contacted Sylvania Natives in Pittsburgh, a nursery that only grows and sells such plants.Kathy McGregor, owner of Sylvania Natives, said, “The ones in the garden are those that are favored by butterflies and hummingbirds.” The garden contains such species as Blazing Star and white beardtongue for hummingbirds.“There's trumpet honeysuckle. It has bell-shaped flowers that hummingbirds like to get up into,” said McGregor. She said the garden also had Brown-Eyed Susan and New England aster plants.There is also milkweed and red milkweed. “Monarch butterflies need them. Their larvae feed on milkweed,” said McGregor.Many butterfly species are dependent on a specific plant, said SRU professor Jack Lyne, an entomologist/biologist. “Populations are declining because a certain plant is declining.”Lyne cited the Silver- bordered Fritillary butterfly as disappearing from gardens in Western Pennsylvania because the plants their caterpillars feed on are also on the decline.Ringler said work on the garden began in May 2015 when “we started the lasagna gardening method.”“Take eight layers of newspaper, (put) brown corrugated cardboard on top of that, soak it down and then we added eight inches of natural hardwood mulch,” he said.“And that is baked in the sun from May until September,” he said. “It prevents weeds and grass from coming through. It really works.”“We haven't had a weed. It's been fabulous,” agreed Strain.The lasagna process is known for its soil renewal qualities and low maintenance requirements. The method allows for a more pliable soil with fewer weeds, improved water retention and a decreased need for fertilizer. It also reduces labor, builds soil levels and fertility and slows evaporation and run-off.Even at this early stage, Ringler said the garden looks awesome.
“We've got things blooming, every year its going to get cooler than it is now. Everything that we put in is coming up and it looks great,” he said.Ringler said a Killdeer (bird) has already laid eggs in the garden but “mostly we wanted to attract the butterflies and hummingbirds and give them a safe haven.”“By being proactive and planting a native garden, we've aimed to protect and enhance the diversity that remained for not only the plant life, but the butterflies and hummingbirds that count on those plants in carrying out their environmental objectives,” said Strain.She said it “kind of embraces the environment on this end of campus.”The pair hopes that the garden's benefits surpass the intended environmental advantages.“Our goals are fourfold,” said Ringler. “We want to see (the garden) become an educational asset to the university's biology and science classes, increase the marketability of the campus, create more beauty for everyone to enjoy and, of course, protect as many native species as possible.”
