A new meadow at Lee Lydic Park in Perry Village has added natural beauty to the site, and provided a place for creatures that play a role in the vital task of pollination. The 0.75-acre native flower pollinator meadow is situated on the south side of the park, near the community garden and playground. Lee Lydic Park is located at 3954 Call Road. “We started preparing the soil for the meadow in the summer of 2023, and actually planted it on Nov. 11 of last year,” said Pam Jenkins, a member of the Perry Village Parks and Recreation Committee. A meadow is an ecosystem composed of one or more plant communities dominated by herbaceous species, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. In addition, meadows support plants “that use surface water and/or shallow ground water, generally at depths of less than 3 feet,” the Forest Service stated. Signs at the new Perry Village native flower pollinator meadow indicate that the site has been designated as a Monarch Waystation for monarch butterflies; and as a Certified Wildlife Habitat property. The meadow, which was planted nearly a year ago, is situated on the south side of Lee Lydic Park, near the site’s playground and community garden. Lee Lydic Park is located at 3954 Call Road. (Bill DeBus – The News-Herald) Pollinator meadows are designed to consist of native flowers and plants that attract native pollinators, such as birds, butterflies, bees and other insects. Some of the plants and flowers people will find in the meadow at Lee Lydic Park include black-eyed Susans, goldenrod, asters, partridge peas, boneset, bidens and coreopsis. “Right now, we have a mix of wildflowers, perennials, annuals and native flowers, which are all beneficial,” Jenkins said. A pollinator meadow should be filled with plants and flowers that are native to a particular geographic region, Jenkins said. She explained that a native plant Is a plant that has evolved naturally over many years to survive in a specific environment. Native plants have “co-evolved” with insects and other creatures that are native to the same region. “So they work together,” Jenkins said. “They have evolved over the years to provide things for each other.” Pollinators visit flowers and plants in their search for food — nectar and pollen, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “During a flower visit, a pollinator may accidentally brush against the flower’s reproductive parts, unknowingly depositing pollen from flower to flower,” the USDA stated. “The plant uses the pollen to produce a fruit or seed. Many plants cannot reproduce without pollen carried to them by foraging pollinators.” To be even more specific, three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce, the USDA stated. Meadows also provide cover and nesting sites for birds, insects and other wildlife, according to Smithsonian Gardens, a division of the Smithsonian Institution. “Without this important habitat, these species would disappear,” Smithsonian Gardens stated. Jenkins said she came up with the idea to develop a garden in Lee Lydic Park during a Perry Village Council meeting. “(Council and the mayor) were discussing their concerns about the cost for mowing this large park,” she said. “I had always wanted to do a meadow, and when I heard the discussion, I thought that was a great time to present the idea (for a meadow).” Council and the mayor talked further about the meadow, and eventually put it into the village’s budget, she said. Between buying seeds and preparing the 3/4-acre section of park land for a new purpose, the meadow probably cost about $700 to $800, Mayor James Gessic said. People who visit the new native flower pollinator meadow at Lee Lydic Park in Perry Village can sit on a bench and enjoy the scenery. The meadow, which was planted almost a year ago, is situated on the south side of the park, near the site’s playground and community garden. Lee Lydic Park is located at 3954 Call Road. (Bill DeBus – The News-Herald) Perry Village also mowed a path through meadow, so people can walk through it, and installed a bench for those who want to sit and enjoy the atmosphere. An excavating company and a tree-cutting service donated some tree stumps and logs for habitat areas in the meadow. Gessic said the meadow could offer park visitors the chance to see additional wildlife. “Usually when I go through the park, I don’t see a lot of wildlife, except for a squirrel here and there,” he said. “Hopefully, the meadow will attract a few more animals that people can observe.” Jenkins said that the meadow achieved impressive growth during its first year. Next spring, she and other volunteers will check the meadow to see how much needs to be re-seeded. Clover that grew in the meadow also must be removed because bare dirt is required for re-seeding to take place. Two new benches also will be added to the meadow during the spring. Jenkins said the meadow will save Perry Village money in the future, because the site will require no mowing besides cutting the walking path that goes through the site. For Jenkins, having the meadow at Lee Lydic Park also offers an opportunity to inspire and inform people. She wants people to realize that creating more meadows — in back yards and elsewhere in communities — will provide additional native plants that are necessary for wildlife to survive. “We hope to have some programs at the meadow to educate people on how to start their own meadows, and how important it is,” she said.