In collaboration with the City of Somerville’s Mayor Ballantyne’s office and the Division of Public Space and Urban Forestry, Offshoots, Inc. created a Pollinator Action Plan for the City and its residents. By identifying spatial and behavioral interventions that build the best habitat for pollinators and wildlife in the city, the plan prioritizes pollinators in the urban network.
A diagrammatic map illustrating the flight range of various-sized pollinators from established pollinator gardens currently existing in Somerville, MA.
Our team of landscape architects, city officials, horticulturists, arborists, and scientists produced a comprehensive plan for both public and private urban open spaces to act as ecological tools to protect biodiversity.
Through public meetings, surveys, and engagement, we produced a hyper-local and data-based approach to improving the city’s ecosystem. The Plan offers advice on city-wide planning initiatives, new plantings, and ongoing long-term maintenance techniques to maximize pollinator benefits. The Plan promotes pollinator habitat and strongly considers the need for community members to find beauty, enjoyment, and value in pollinator landscapes by showcasing both naturalistic and more traditional styles of plantings. The design encourages a balance between cultural goals and ecological goals. Designs include planting layouts for garden beds, pots, public streets, lawn conversion, and more. In addition to planting designs and horticultural recommendations, Offshoots provided maintenance and non-landscape recommendations to ensure that all Somerville residents feel included and galvanized!
The SPAP team together at Somerville City Hall.
And to kick off the Plan’s debut, volunteers gathered at City Hall to help plant a demonstration garden full of pollinator-friendly plants using a predeveloped planting layout for ease of organization and aesthetic planting combination! We are so grateful to the community, we couldn’t have created this comprehensive plan without them.
A volunteer helps move materials for the new demonstration pollinator garden.
Volunteers and the Offshoots team discuss planting strategies.
Volunteers help build the brand new pollinator garden at Somerville City Hall.
The new pollinator garden in front of Somerville City Hall.