Here’s how it works: throughout a mile-long row along Columbia Street, standard planting strips (usually a band of grass between sidewalk and street) will be transformed into pollinator-friendly gardens, offering viable food and habitat to these vitally important insects.
Two Pollinator Pathway gardens are in place on Columbia (one at 17th and one at 27th), and additional funding is now sought to complete the rest of the Pathway.
Where is it located?
The planned site of the Pollinator Pathway is on Columbia Street between 12th and 29th avenues. The location is bookended by two existing green spaces–Seattle University and a small park called Nora’s Woods. Seattle University has a long history with sustainable landscaping methods, and houses a pollinator friendly garden. Nora’s Woods is a tiny woods that hosts many native, pollinator friendly plants.
Support our plan! This project is an idea that we’re working hard to make into reality, and it can’t exist without you. Your financial support goes directly toward the next gardens.
Native Plants. Many introduced ornamental plants we enjoy in our gardens are not useful to native pollinators, as they’re not adapted to each other. Native plants are best for native pollinators– and the creatures that rely on them, such as birds.
The Pollinator Pathway balances an emphasis on native plants useful to pollinators with plants chosen for beauty and structure. We use between 70-90% native plants for each garden.
Honeybees and Native Pollinators: One of the most commonly known pollinators is the honeybee, a species introduced to North America from Europe. These prolific crop pollinators have been stressed by pests, diseases and pollutants, and most recently, a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder has decimated their populations.
While honeybees are the workhorses of agriculture, many plants we see are pollinated by native pollinators– most frequently small, solitary bees with habits quite unlike honeybees. These native pollinators are also in decline, due to shrinking habitats, pollution and pesticides.