Pollinator Pathway
Andover
Last summer, a group of interested Andover residents teamed up to launch an initiative called Andover Pollinator Pathway. Our mission is to promote native plantings and healthy habitats for pollinators throughout our community. Each of us can make a difference, starting right in our own yards.
Joining the Andover Pollinator Pathway is easy—you can put your garden on the map by doing the following five things:
• Plant native plants, including trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers.
• Reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides in favor of safer alternatives.
• Control invasive plants
• Reduce lawn size in favor of native plantings
• Leave leaves in the landscape in the fall
By doing so, we will improve the connections between the many natural spaces in town, creating a robust ecosystem with a greater diversity of native species.
We invite your interest and involvement. Please explore the Andover Pollinator Pathway website for planting ideas, techniques that help pollinators survive the winter and thrive, and insight into why “growing organic” can benefit the whole community.
Reach out to us at andoverpp@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list. Whether you are a beginner who is just discovering native plants or an experienced gardener, we invite you to participate. We will send you updates on programs, local plant sales and other items of interest.
Public Pollinator Gardens
Pollinator Pathway Garden at Andover High School
80 Shawsheen Rd, Andover, MA 01810
Welcome to the Pollinator Pathway garden project at Andover High School! This garden was created by interns Isabelle Galgano and Grace Jungmann with mentor Mindy Chave. The project is for Ms. Cutler’s Environmental Sustainability Internship Course.
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This garden was installed to create native habitat for pollinators including butterflies, bees, moths, and birds. The interns have built a raised garden bed on the traffic island outside the Collins Center and installed native plants as advised by Walter Kitteridge. The plants were purchased from Walter’s native plant nursery called Oakhaven Sanctuary. The native plants used include Spotted Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot, Purple Coneflower, Mountain Mint, Golden Alexanders, Joe Pye Weed, Goldenrod, Frost Aster, Toothed Flat Topped White Aster, New England Aster, Hellebores, Button Eryngo, and Dwarf Chinkapin Oak.
The compost/loam mix was provided free by the town of Andover, and the Andover Garden Club kindly covered the cost of purchase of the raised bed kits, which were sourced from Home Depot. The Garden Club also covered the cost of the plants.
The AHS garden is the first public garden to be added to the Andover Pollinator Pathway. Congratulations to our interns for inspiring the community to join us in creating pollinator-friendly landscapes. Let’s get all of our neighbors on board to build a robust pollinator pathway through Andover!
The Henderson Garden
The Henderson Garden
At the junction of River Road and Chandler Road
Across from Fish Brook Reservation, 275 Chandler Road, Andover, MA 01810
The Henderson Garden was begun as a project of the horticulture committee of the Andover Garden Club in the early 2000’s. Today it is tended by members of the Civic Beautification Committee, who are studying the values of native and other pollinator plants. The garden measures 20x125’ and is located on town property at the junction of River Road and Chandler Road, in Andover, MA.
This beautiful garden is planted with mostly native plants. The garden includes native shrubs: Symphoricarpus albus (Snowberry) and Vaccinium corymbosum (High Bush Blueberry), and native perennials: Amsonia taebernaemontana (Eastern Bluestar), Antennaria neglecta (Pussytoes), Baptisia australis (Blue False Indigo), Boltonia asteroides (False Aster), Echinacea pupurea (Purple Coneflower), Eupatorium purfoliatum (Joe Pye Weed), Leucanthemum vulgare (Oxeye Daisy), Liatris spicata (Dense Blazing Star), Lupinus perennis (Lupine), Lysimachia clethroides (Gooseneck Loosestrife), Lysimachia Punctata (Large Yellow Loosestrife), Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant), Rudbeckia Fulgida (Orange Cone Flower), Sedum ternatum (Woodland Stonecrop), Solidago canadensis (Canada Goldenrod), Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England Aster), and Tradescantia virginiana (Virginia Spiderwort).
Local Native Plant Nursery Sources
Always ask for straight species rather than cultivars that have been modified
for larger blooms or exotic colors.
Garden in the Woods
180 Hemenway Road
Framingham, MA
(508) 877-7630
Exclusively native. Open seasonally. Check site for availability and hours.
Visit the beautiful gardens and buy plants at the nursery. Featuring an ever-increasing selection of genetically diverse New England natives.
240 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452
(781) 790-8921
Once yearly native plant sale in early June with over 5,000 plants available for purchase. Visit the website for more information.
217 Washington Street
Boxford, MA 01921
(978) 352-6359
Open seasonally. Check site for availability and hours.
Large selection of natives, flowering trees, evergreens, and perennials.
165 Princeton Street
North Chelmsford, MA 01863
Phone: (978) 251-4001
Large selection of plants, some of which are native. Look for American Beauties Native Plants (Choose straight species, not cultivars).
1609 Main Street
Tewksbury, MA 01876
Phone: (978) 851-2712
Large selection of plants, some of which are native. Look for American Beauties Native Plants (Choose straight species, not cultivars).
11 Batchelder Avenue
North Reading, MA 01864
Exclusively native. Open seasonally. Check site for availability and hours.
A small nursery with many species for sale, all organically grown. In addition to wildflowers, ferns, sedges and aquatic plants, they have a broad selection of woody plants. Run by a professional botanist specializing in wetlands ecology and restorations.
160 Pine Hill Road
Chelmsford, MA 01824
(978) 349-0055
Large selection of plants, some of which are native. Look for Weston Rewilding native plants grown in-house, and American Beauties Native Plants (Choose straight species, not cultivars).
21 Memorial Highway
North Yarmouth, ME 04097
Mailorder. New England genotype seed.
All seed collected in Maine. 100+ species of wildflowers, ferns, grasses and shrubs for a variety of habitats. Their magazine, Wild Seed, is a wonderful educational resource. They also have wonderful guides to native groundcovers and native trees—what will thrive in various settings and how to create groups of native plants that thrive together.
Download Complete List of Local Native Plant Nursery Sources
Outreach Flyers to Print
Help us spread the word about promoting native plantings and healthy habitats for pollinators throughout our community. Please look around your neighborhood for people who might want more information about ecological gardening. Choose the appropriate flyer from the list below, print it and trim to a half page, leave a flyer at your neighbor's mailbox or door. Feel free to write an encouraging personal note on the flyer. Please email us at andoverpp@gmail.com with the address of the house where you leave the flyer so we can keep track of how many new people we are reaching out to.
1) "We noticed your beautiful garden..." For people who appear to meet the APP map criteria
2) "Save a Space for Nature!" For people who may not be aware of ecological gardening and whose yards would benefit from adding native plants
3) "Protect your family, pets, pollinators, and neighborhood wildlife" For people who recently treated their yard with a pesticide or herbicide (2-sided flyer)
4) "LIGHTS OUT for birds during peak migration" For people who leave their lights on at night Sept-Dec
5) "LIGHTS OUT for moths, birds, and trees" For people who leave their lights on at night April-Dec
6) "Leave the Leaves" For people who rake their leaves instead of leaving them in place
If your garden meets our Pollinator Pathway criteria please join using this link:
We encourage you to list your native garden on the Google map so we can see
how we are growing pathways for pollinators around town!
If you are new to this and would like to get some help to start you on your way to a
pollinator pathway yard please fill out this form:
For more information, email us at andoverpp@gmail.com
Show off your beautiful pollinator yard or garden. Order a Pollinator Pathway yard sign.
www.pollinator-pathway.org/sign
Thank you to our partners:
