NJNLA helping to bring plants and people together

New Jersey Nursery & Landscape Association (NJNLA) member nurseries are working with Meadow Lakes, a retirement community in East Windsor, New Jersey, to install 1,600 herbaceous, perennial plants along some of the community's riparian buffers.

Over 550 students will be participating in this intergenerational event with students interacting with the residents and learning about filtering and processing runoff water.

Participants will be getting their hands into the dirt and learning about how ecologically important planting something can be. The plants that were chosen were selected because they would thrive in their intended environment and are especially beneficial to pollinators.

Other activities will include planting and launching four more floating wetlands to help process excess fertilizers in the lakes and sequester heavy metals and other pollutants. Member nurseries will be working with residents on a horticultural therapy project, and also doing some cleanup of trails in Hightstown Borough.