By Phil Barr, Temple Beth Emeth, Co-Chair Grounds, Genesis of Ann Arbor
The ice and snowstorms of February 2023 left Ann Arbor streets littered with debris for months. Out of that destruction, the Genesis Native Michigan Plants Garden was born this past spring.
Why Native Plants?
Native plants are built for our climate. Once established, they out-compete weeds and require significantly less water, fertilizer, and maintenance than traditional landscaping. They also provide essential food and habitat for local birds and pollinators.
The goal for the garden is to have all plantings be indigenous to our region. After scraping the area and removing existing landscaping fabric this spring, the trees and plants of the new garden replaced overgrown landscaping that had been planted decades earlier and was suffering from acid rain and storm damage.
During our planning, we learned about Seeds To Community, part of the Stewardship Network. Their mission is to “create connections with people and nature through the process of growing native plants from seed.” Partnering with them enabled us to learn the whole process of bringing a garden to life, including:
- Learning which native plants were the right fit for our specific height, shade, and moisture needs.
- Gaining access to seeds collected from the previous season and learning how to care for them.
- Creating mini-greenhouses to sprout the seeds.
- Re-potting and finally planting the seedlings in the new garden.
This partnership allowed us to tap into a great source of knowledge and grow thousands of plants at almost no cost. As a long-time gardener, I appreciated the simplicity of sowing seeds in hundreds of mini greenhouses made of reused gallon milk jugs. These were left outside in the snow, sun, and rain over the winter until they were ready to sprout in the spring.
Seeds To Community volunteers have prepared a curated spreadsheet of over 100 Native Michigan varieties, each tagged with specific sunlight and moisture requirements.
Experience our progress along a 200-foot stretch of Eastover, east of Packard. We invite you to reach out for a guided tour of the grounds and see how this 50-year partnership between St. Clare’s and Temple Beth Emeth continues to grow.
Genesis of Ann Arbor was formed 50 years ago as a partnership between St. Clare’s Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Emeth. Gardens tended by dedicated congregants surround it.