Wesley Des Moines residents are looking to start an eco-friendly native plant garden for local wildlife.
Along with the excitement for the renewed Wesley Des Moines campus, some residents are working on figuring out how they might be able to introduce a native plant garden to the new campus.
Rita Bailey, Des Moines resident and King County Native Plant Steward, is among the group wanting to create such a garden.
“We envision a garden space where we use indigenous plants to provide a safe, nurturing habitat for native wildlife,” said Rita.
To attract and protect local birds, bees and butterflies, they want the garden to be environmentally friendly and have all native plants. Instead of using pesticides or harsh chemicals they’d use natural methods to keep the plants healthy.
The project is a communal effort with participation from all areas of the campus.
“It’s still early on and we’re not sure how it’s going to progress depending on what the city and campus requires, but it’s been a fun project with folks from all parts of the campus working on it and contributing ideas,” said Rita.
The group has formed a “work party” where they each take on various tasks based on need and expertise. For example, some of the wood workers on the campus have volunteered to help build some birdhouses.
They’ve started what they can, making efforts such as removing invasive, non-native weeds, but are still in the planning process for this endeavor.