Brockway Library Wildlife Garden Project

The garden is already sending out tendrils into the community via seeds harvested from the garden and two nearby gardens....

...and cuttings of Blue porterweed.

The vision for the Brockway Library Native Garden Project started as a wheelchair-accessible path through a private wildlife garden that never materialized when it turned out that it would have required men and heavy equipment tearing up the garden over the course of 12 days.  It appeared the dream died there….

However, on a seemingly unrelated path, a Facebook post about Bound by Beauty’s posters of Wild Native Plants and the Butterflies They Host with Kim Heise’s beautiful art caught the eye of the librarian in Mount Dora, FL and have since become part of the library’s annual Pollinators in the Park contest and exhibit of photographs taken of the flora and fauna in the Nunan Butterfly Garden that surrounds the library.

That park was sparked by an Eagle Scout project. Coincidentally, Bound by Beauty has been working with Cecilia Ise, friend and neighbor and Gold Award Girl Scout on her Pollinator Patch project and having discussions with our local library about creating a Patch there.

And it just so happened that our library grounds had been torn up to install a wheelchair-accessible ramp which reignited the spark of creating access to beautiful nature for people with disabilities, especially those in wheelchairs…

And it all fell into place: this project has gone through an amazing organic synergy as if Mother Nature is helping make it happen. But it is indeed happening. Natalia and Mauricio of NaMa Native Landscaping donated a beautiful design…

After the arduous task of convincing St. Augustine grass to release its grip on the earth…

We began with the southwest corner on a cool sunny Saturday with the help of many friends and neighbors of all ages to dig the holes and plant the plants. It was truly a community effort.

At the end of day it was completely transformed…

We learned about garden design, how to dig the right holes, the importance of using drought-tolerant native plants and mulch to conserve moisture…..

The monoculture sod replaced by 20 species of native plants (and one non-native, the Gaillardia or Blanketflower), including these…

We planted the plants below. The only non-native is Blanketflower/Gaillardia, but we are incorporating it because it plays an important role in the ecosystem by feeding native bees, plus it is beautiful.

Beautiful and educational plant ID markers are now installed in phase I, with the plant’s common name, botanical name, family name, the wildlife it attracts, and a QR code that directs you to a webpage that gives you all the information you need to see if it would work in your garden.

Phase II of the garden project is now complete.  We replaced an unsustainable sod monoculture and Category I invasive (meaning it has invaded natural areas and is crowding out important native species) Suriname cherry box hedge with 23 drought-tolerant species, all of which provide food for important wildlife like butterflies, bees, and birds. 

In addition to several species already present in phase I, we planted:

That brings us to a total of 36 different plant species, each of which plays an important role in the ecosystem.  What a departure from the former sod monoculture with an invasive hedge! Our drinking water is no longer used to irrigate the phase I plants, and we will soon redirect the sprinklers that had been watering the sod in phase II, thereby conserving even more of our drinking water for future generations.

In addition to the beauty of the plants themselves, we are seeing more insect species visiting the garden.  We asked our friend and fellow insect enthusiast Alex Salcedo to bring his macro lens to the garden to capture their wonder.

Metallic green sweat bee, which is about the size of a sewing needle hole.

Halloween pennant dragonfly, which is about the size of a piece of chalk.

Lesser meadow katydid, which is about the size of a dice.

Poey’s furrow bee, which is about the size of a baby pea.

Atala butterfly caterpillars, which grow to about the size of elbow macaroni.

Needham’s skimmer dragonfly, whose wingspan is about the size of an eraser.

Walckenaer’s trashline orb weaver. This tiny creature is hard to even see with the naked eye, being about the size of a sesame seed.  The macro lens shows how truly fierce looking it is.

Besides these amazing creatures, four species of butterflies have discovered the garden, along with cardinals and mockingbirds. What a wonderful feeling it is to see wildlife benefiting from a biodiverse natural world, as opposed to a sterile, monoculture landscape.

We are gearing up for the next phases of the garden, including creating a wheelchair-accessible path to the little secret courtyard garden in the back of Brockway Library. How lovely that the key to opening the garden for library patrons is by making the courtyard wheelchair accessible, which brings us full circle…

We can’t wait to be able to plant more plants and ensure that every resident of Miami Shores can enjoy beautiful nature.