City Hall Pollinator Garden Planting Demonstration

On Thursday, June 27 from 5 -7 p.m., residents are invited to City Hall for the planting of a pollinator garden. All are welcome to swing by including beginners, master gardeners, residents without gardens, and those with even a slight curiosity about this project. The design team from Offshoots will share about the Pollinator Action Plan and planting and maintenance techniques. The event will take place rain or shine.

About Somerville’s Pollinator Action Plan

More than 75% of all flowering plants depend on pollination for survival, including thousands of global food crops, but due to factors such as habitat loss, pesticide use, and light pollution, pollinator populations are declining in New England and worldwide.

The City of Somerville’s Pollinator Action Plan prioritizes local pollinator health to establish and maintain a healthy and biodiverse urban ecosystem. The plan is the first of its kind in a city as densely populated as Somerville. 

The Pollinator Action Plan is part of an ambitious undertaking by the Ballantyne administration to support, protect, and maintain biodiverse urban ecosystems. These initiatives include Mayor Ballantyne’s signing of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, research collaborations with the Tufts Pollinator Initiative, and planting pollinator gardens throughout the city. 

This project also builds on Mayor Ballantyne’s work as a City Councilor to pass a Native Plant Ordinance, which requires City plantings to contain certain percentages of native species.