In late fall, a group of mostly strangers carrying shovels gathered at Lexington’s Zandale Park on a sunny but chilly morning to plant hope in the form of a butterfly garden.
Though their efforts won’t reach their potential until later this summer, the volunteers were all excited about the prospect as they overturned earth, carted in loamy soil, planted seedlings and staked markers identifying each plant. They covered the ground around the plants with plain corrugated cardboard to protect them for winter and added a layer of mulch on top. It was a communal effort that not only fostered camaraderie but also will help bolster the dwindling numbers of butterflies and bees, as well as help protect a nearby creek.
The idea originated with an email from a neighbor to the Lansdowne Neighborhood Association. “A resident suggested we plant a butterfly garden in one of our medians, and I thought that was a great idea,” said Chad Aull, president of the neighborhood group.
Aull took the idea to the office of his council member, Susan Lamb, and discovered butterfly gardens and medians are not compatible, due to mowing restrictions and visibility issues (butterfly gardens tend to get tall).
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A group of volunteers gathered at Zandale Park this past fall to plant the initial seeds of a community butterfly garden. The project was supported by the Lansdowne Neighborhood Association and the city’s Environmental Commission. Photo by Rena Baer
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A group of volunteers gathered at Zandale Park this past fall to plant the initial seeds of a community butterfly garden. The project was supported by the Lansdowne Neighborhood Association and the city’s Environmental Commission. Photo by Rena Baer
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Photo by Rena Baer
Aull was redirected toward the city’s Environmental Commission, a group consisting of residents from each of Fayette County’s 11 urban county council districts. As it turned out, the commission was already working on increasing community butterfly gardens throughout the city, and had helped support the Gainesway neighborhood in creating its own pollinator garden, which was in full bloom last summer.
“One of the small things we do is work with neighborhoods on gardens,” said Larry Isenhour, a member of the Environmental Commission. “We work with the neighborhood associations and typically help plant them on a piece of property that’s part of a city park or greenspace. Of course, we have to get permission from the city first.”
The neighborhood has to commit to maintain the gardens, he stressed. “We are just instigators, working with them, and then the neighborhood takes over and keeps them up, and if they don’t, the city will turn them back into grass,” he said with a laugh.
Isenhour and Aull met at Zandale Park to iron out the details after board members of the Lansdowne Neighborhood Association suggested it as an alternate location for the butterfly garden. The park, said Aull, is the site of many community projects, including creek cleanup and restoration.
The pair walked around the park and decided the best location would be around the sign at the entrance, near a creek, which was already part of a no-mow zone. The sign itself would serve as a visual reminder of the garden and as an obstacle from having it accidentally cut down.
Once they determined a location, Aull and Isenhour settled on planting in late fall, so the plants could take root over the winter.
“Once we had a plan of where, when and how, we needed one for how much,” said Aull. The cost was $750, and part of the money came from the city’s Neighborhood Action Match Programs, some from the Environmental Commission and the rest from the neighborhood association.
Aull put out a call on social media for help planting the garden. A group of about 20 people showed up, ranging from their early teens to retirees, and not just from the Lansdowne area but from all over Lexington.
Photo by Web Barney
“There were people there who were just interested in the environment and in butterflies and people from the West Hickman water project [a group of volunteers who are monitoring the water quality in West Hickman Creek],” Aull said. “It was really encouraging.”
Kelly Taylor from the West Hickman group was one of those volunteers. “We see ourselves as facilitators for neighborhood associations and other groups that want to improve water quality in a stream in their neighborhood,” he said. “ The butterfly garden will add a little bit more of a riparian buffer along a tributary of West Hickman that runs through the Zandale neighborhood. It’s another means of mitigating the runoff from Zandale Drive before it gets to the creek. Also, it’s an educational opportunity for the neighborhood to learn what they may be able to do on their own property.”
Isenhour said the garden’s design comes from a city project called Plant by Numbers (www.Lexingtonky.gov/plantbynumbers), which is meant to help people with projects like this. Plant by Numbers provides the common and Latin names of the plants that attract pollinators, Isenhour explained, and also breaks it into sun- and shade-loving plants.
“The website provides a lot of information,” he said, “and it’s really good information.”
Lexington resident Web Barney, who studied entomology at the University of Kentucky and was a researcher there for 15 years, doesn’t live in the neighborhood but wanted to help with the Zandale garden.
“I had never been part of a group that actually planted a community butterfly garden,” he said. “I’ve got a butterfly garden in my own yard, but I have wanted to see what kind of plants are being used, enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded individuals and help spread the word.”
He’s also concerned about deforestation and loss of habitat. “I started to see the decline of so many species of insects,” he said. “And so many needed help, so I started raising butterflies, not just for myself but for other people to get interested in it. And butterflies are like a linchpins, once you’re interested in them, you become interested and aware of other species.”
Aull brought along his daughter to help plant the garden and raise her awareness. “I felt blessed,” he said. “My daughter is 12. She enjoys being outside. I want her to be able to enjoy nature. She had mentioned something to me years ago about doing a butterfly garden in our yard, but life happened and I never got around to it. When this opportunity presented itself, I thought that it would be a great opportunity not just for her but for all the kids to enjoy. Hopefully, it’ll be around for a long time.”
