St. Francis de Sales students busy as bees planting pollinator garden

SALISBURY, Md. –  Students at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School in Salisbury were busy as bees Wednesday morning. They got their hands dirty, planting a native pollinator garden on campus.

Following a Pattern of Faith

The circular garden includes native plants surrounding a dogwood tree. What makes the design unique, is that it incorporates the school’s faith into its shape.

“We’ve worked with St. Francis, and each section of the garden represents a decade of the rosary,” said Executive Director of the Lower Shore Land Trust (LSLT), Matt Heim. “This is going to be a meditative garden. The students at St. Francis can come out here after mass and walk through. It’ll be a rolling color throughout the year.”

Teaming Up With the Trust

To get the plants in the ground, the school teamed up with Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake, and the LSLT.

“If you look around, there’s not a lot of pollinators out here, as far as flowers and things like that,” Heim said. “So, it’s important to take places that are lawn and grasses, and help put more habitat for insects and bees, because they help other critters like birds and all the other things we like to see in the environment.”

Earth Connection

Heim says spending a few hours, literally connecting with the earth, could impart valuable lessons for the students.

“This is the future out here, right? And, it’s great to give them an opportunity to get involved,” Heim said. “These are going to be future homeowners. So, it’s good for them to understand the importance of having native landscaping in their yards, and to get their hands dirty. Get outside on a beautiful day like this.”

If you want to get some native plants in the ground at your home, the LSLT can help. Heim says the organization still has native plants on hand from their sale last week. Plants are available for sale at 100 River Street, Snow Hill, Md. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until Friday.