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Greenview Pollinator Garden

Friends of Greenview is establishing a Pollinator Garden behind the Project Grow plots, with native plants that shift through the season and attract butterflies and other insects. The community is invited to visit the garden to learn about native plants and observe pollinators in action.

Stewardship Activities

Friends of Greenview and Pioneer Nature Area are actively involved in various stewardship activities to restore and enhance the natural features and beauty of this wonderful community open space. We organize community work days and educational events throughout the season. The generous donations and grants allow us to buy native seeds and plants, and to engage a professional consultant to conduct restoration projects.

The Seasons of Greenview

The nature area changes with each season. Here’s what you can see and experience in Greenview throughout the year.

Spring brings the nature area to life, with signs of the season found throughout the landscape. In Pioneer Woods, woodland spring ephemerals like trout lilies, spring beauty, wild geranium, and Jack-in-the-pulpit make their brief but beautiful appearance.

The meadow wakes more slowly, but among the emerging prairie grasses, you can spot some of the earliest wildflowers, such as pussytoes, strawberries, violets, and fleabane. In areas recently treated with a prescribed burn, fresh green growth is appearing. These early blooms are important for pollinators emerging in spring.

The pond area also serves as important habitat for migrating and nesting birds and provides a home for frogs and toads.

Listen to birdsong recorded near the pond in spring, featuring Northern Flicker, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, American Robin, and Red-bellied Woodpecker:

As temperatures warm in late spring and early summer, the nature area transforms with a profusion of wildflowers. In early summer, blooms like Common Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed, Butterfly Weed, wild roses, bergamot, Mountain Mint, foxglove, and many others brighten the meadows at Greenview. These flowers attract a wide variety of pollinators, including butterflies and native bees.

In the heat of the summer, a variety of wildflowers and grasses thrive, from the golden hues of goldenrods to the purples and yellows of coneflowers and Ironweed. Bees, beetles, and wasps visit the blooms, and prairie grasses such as Big Bluestem, Indian Grass, Little Bluestem, and Switchgrass offer shelter for birds and other wildlife.

As fall sets in, asters brighten the landscape with clusters of white, blue, and purple blooms. They provide essential food for insects and are especially popular with butterflies, including migrating monarchs. In the nearby Pioneer Woods, fall brings beautiful colors, with oaks, hickories, and maples showing off shades of amber, gold, and deep red.

As cooler temperatures settle in, the landscape’s colors soften, but prairie grasses and native flower seed heads continue to add interest and texture. They also offer essential food and shelter for wildlife.

Grasses and seed pods, lightly dusted with snow or encased in ice, bring a unique charm to the snowy landscape at the nature area. As winter deepens and the pond freezes, it transforms into a lively hub, welcoming neighborhood ice skaters to its surface.

Friends of Greenview Stewardship Activities

Friends of Greenview are getting ready for another season of stewardship at Greenview Nature Area. We are currently in the planning stages and will share updates here as activities take shape.

Buckthorn Removal – March

South of the pond, invasive buckthorn has taken over much of the natural area. But young ash, oak, and maple are starting to come back, and a stand of decades-old Scotch pines still holds its ground. This March, thanks to generous donations, Friends of Greenview hired an environmental consultant and got to work. The crew spent two days girdling buckthorn and treating cut sites to prevent regrowth. Over time this will give native plants room to return and create richer habitat for birds and wildlife. It will also open the door for Friends of Greenview to plant native seeds and shrubs in the future.

Native Seeds in the Snow – February

Volunteers overseeded the Greenview meadow this winter. It’s an ideal time of year to broadcast native wildflower and grass seed over the snow. As it melts, the seed settles into the ground. Cold, wet, freezing conditions help many native seeds break dormancy. Volunteers mixed locally collected seed with sawdust and hand broadcast it across the meadow. Different mixes were prepared for open prairie, woodland edges, and wetlands near the pond. It’s a simple method that follows nature’s lead and over time helps boost wildflower diversity at Greenview.

2026 Stewardship Grant

Friends of Greenview is grateful to the Ann Arbor Farm & Garden Foundation for their generous grant supporting our stewardship work in 2026, including a prescribed burn, goatscaping, and the purchase of native shrubs and wildflower plugs for our Pollinator Garden. Learn more about the amazing work of AAF&G here: https://www.annarborfarmandgarden.org/

You can read about what we accomplished in 2025 here.