The students of Bee Campus USA at UIUC and From the Ground Up believe that a perfect site for a highly visible pollinator garden is the area surrounding the Foreign Languages Building (FLB). The goal of this project is to turn the exterior “rock garden” at FLB into a series of native plant gardens and pollinator way stations that can be enjoyed by people and insects alike. Specifically, this renovation will encompass, first (in red on the photo below), the nine raised beds along the southern and eastern sides of the building, second (in blue), the center of the nearby roundabout and the mulched garden area between the basement staircase and the sidewalk next to Foellinger, and, third (in yellow), the rock garden space that immediately flanks either side of the southern entrance walk into the FLB. Once the planter beds are planted and growing, we will turn our attention to designing the second and third phases of the project, in hopes of turning all of this space into accessible, educational, and beautiful native plantings. The top priority outcomes of this project are to support our local and migratory pollinator communities and provide educational resources for campus and community courses and organizations.

This project will directly involve students as students from clubs From the Ground Up and Bee Campus will be responsible for planning and executing this project in its entirety. Students will determine which native species will be planted, researching the impacts these plants have on pollinators and other native insect populations, creating educational signage that accurately reflects what the plants are and how they impact the environment, and be in charge of the physical labor of restoring some of the growing medium and planting and maintaining the native species. The designs and budgeting will also be student-led, which gives valuable experience in planning and executing sustainable efforts that can be used in future projects and jobs, small or large scale. Student volunteers, both involved in these clubs or other sustainable focused clubs willing to help, will ensure this project is successful and achieves its environmental and outreach goals