The Village of Patchogue and Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) are inviting residents to take part in a community planting effort that “will bring new life and ecological value to the south side of Great Patchogue Lake.”
The village and CCE will host Pollinator Garden Planting Days on Friday, May 29 at 3:00 PM and Saturday, May 30 at 10 a.m. The project will transform the lakeside area with native plantings designed to support bees, butterflies, and other pollinators essential to a healthy environment.
The initiative is funded by theNYS Attorney General’s office through a settlement with Monsanto, which directed resources to environmental organizations to establish pollinator habitats across the state.
Through that program, CCE is working with three municipalities including Patchogue to implement local projects that combine habitat restoration with community engagement.
Volunteers are invited to participate in one or both planting days. The Friday session will include initial planting and provide an opportunity for participants to assist as team leaders, while Saturday will serve as the final day of planting and we will need robust community involvement. Participants are encouraged to bring gloves and basic planting tools .
Village clerk Lori Devlin said that the project “reflects a growing emphasis on sustainability and stewardship within the community. This is a simple but meaningful way for residents to get involved.” “By working together, we can enhance the lakefront while creating habitat that supports pollinators and strengthens our local ecosystem.”
Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said, “We are delighted to be able to establish this beautiful garden in the village. It will be a large area so the more helping hands we have the better it will be!”
The project was enabled by a $200,000 state grant to CCE to create pollinator gardens in Patchogue, Blue Point and Port Jefferson Village. The Farmingdale-based nonprofit will plant milkweed and other native plants that attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other pollinators. CCE is one of 34 organizations across New York State that will benefit from the $3.2 million in grants for pollinator conservation programs from the settlement with Bayer CropScience LP and Monsanto Company over company claims about the safety of certain Roundup consumer weedkillers.
“Pollinators are the unsung heroes of our environment, yet their very existence has been threatened by the harmful impacts of pesticides, habitat destruction, and climate change,” attorney general Letitia James said in a press release. “These grants are a down payment on a more sustainable future for New York. By investing in grassroots initiatives and community-led conservation, we are laying the groundwork for long-term environmental health so that future generations may live in a healthy, green, and vibrant New York.”
The Patchogue pollinator garden, which will be approximately one-half to three-quarters of an acre, will be on the east side of Waverly Avenue, north of the traffic circle.
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