The ribbon cutting earlier this month for a new native plant rain garden planted at the foot of West Westside Avenue by volunteers with the organization Patchwork for Wildlife. (Photos by Susan Devine Click to enlarge.)
By BRIAN DONOHUE
The Westside Garden at the foot of West Westside Avenue, where the street dead-ends near a wooded area along the Swimming River.
An ordinance given unanimous final approval by the Mayor and Borough Council on June 11 requires native species in major projects seeking site plan approvals from the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment.
According to a May 28 presentation to the council by Red Bank Environmental Commission member Paulo Rodriguez Heyman, the ordinance requires “landscape plans must specify native species for every proposed tree, shrub, groundcover, grass, sedge, and perennial
planting.” No single species can comprise more than 25 percent of the plantings.
When preparing landscape plans as part of a development application, landscapers can choose from a long list of native plants maintained by the Native Plant Society of NJ (NPSNJ), Rutgers NJ Agricultural Experiment Station and the National Wildlife Federation.
The ordinance does not change what a typical homeowner can plant in their yard – so long as it’s not invasive running bamboo, which is already banned by a separate borough ordinance.
It comes on the heels of statewide legislation passed last year, aimed primarily at nurseries, which phases in restrictions on the sale of invasive species statewide.
A statement accompanying the Red Bank ordinance describes it as part of an effort “to restore native plant populations whose decline has been found to be a factor in the reduction of insect and bird populations.”
It also states that the propagation of native plants, “reduces the need for irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticides, improves stormwater absorption, and lowers long-term landscaping maintenance costs.”
The passing of the ordinance came days after a ribbon cutting for a replanted native garden at the foot of West Westside Avenue by volunteers with the organization Patchwork for Wildlife. (see photos in this story)
And the newly remade Marine Park, set for a formal ribbon cutting Saturday, will also include a pollinator garden and landscaping employing native plants, grasses and trees.
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.
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