One volunteer has garnered praise after bringing their community together to transform an abandoned park into an inviting space.
"Installed 500+ homegrown pollinator habitat plugs," the volunteer wrote on Reddit in the subreddit r/NativePlantGardening, sharing before-and-after photos of the makeover.
According to the original poster, it took them over a year to clear the park's hillside, which had a tangle of troublesome ivy and other plant debris. A "fun community planting day with neighborhood volunteers" helped the project come to fruition.
In a comment, the OP confirmed that the park was "full of invasives," which they had been removing in favor of native plants.
These types of plants not only help pollinators, which support around 35% of the global food supply, but they also cut down on pollution associated with yard care in comparison to non-native species.
This is partially because these plants don't require expensive synthetic fertilizers in order to successfully grow.
In 2019, Cornell plant and soil ecology professor David Wolfe noted that nitrogen-based products release four to six tons of plant-warming carbon into the air for every ton manufactured, as reported by the National Audubon Society.
Native plants also need considerably less water than traditional grass lawns, saving the average homeowner nearly $300 on that bill every year.
While it's not clear how the OP obtained the funds to invest in the community park, even small steps to rewild personal or public spaces make a big difference in supporting the environment, with clover among the beautiful options that are easy and cheap to install.
Other Redditors were amazed by the early results shared by the OP, even though the plants needed time to reach their full potential.
"This is so beautiful to see!" one person wrote.
"Very inspirational. I can't wait to see the progress," another person said.
"Thank you for sharing your talents with your community, hopefully your enthusiasm will spread!" someone else wrote.
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